Ethics

This panel will discuss the ethical duties and obligations of debtor’s counsel when unbundling legal services in chapter 7 cases. From the marketing of no money/low money down to adequate disclosures, the nuances of fee bifurcation sometimes create a fine ethical line on which to walk. The panelists will provide practical advice on how to comply with ethical concerns, and will discuss how different districts across the country have addressed the issue.

This session will focus on conflict issues, getting retained and paid, and § 327/disclosure issues.

Advising and interacting with clients remotely, with a strong reliance on electronic rather than in-person communications, is the reality for most bankruptcy professionals in a post-pandemic world. This session will focus on the resulting ethical issues facing consumer practitioners, including issues regarding the verification of debtor identity, authority issues regarding the use of client signatures, protection of confidential client information, conduct during telephonic (or video) § 341 meetings, and ethical obligations in the face of data breaches. The panelists will use hypothetical scenarios to demonstrate the ways in which these ethical issues often arise, and will discuss best practices to handle these issues, as well as highlight potential access-to-justice problems that clients can face.

Who is your client? This panel will discuss navigating thorny engagement issues that can arise from representing affiliated debtors, conflicts that can occur when representing closely held businesses, the importance of disclosing connections, and how these issues affect attorneys, financial advisors and other professionals.

This panel will discuss ethical considerations prior to filing, including the ethics of negotiating RSAs and pre-paying management incentive plans.

This panel discusses cutting-edge issues involving the use of AI in law practice, and ethical questions and potential pitfalls surrounding its use by lawyers and legal professionals.

This panel will focus on disputes regarding engagement as counsel and payment of fees. The panel will cover such issues as unbundling of services, bifurcated fee arrangements and conflicts of interest. The panelists also will discuss a number of ethical issues that have arisen in recent cases.