In Jacobson Holman PLLC v. Gentner, 244 A.3d 690 (D.C. 2021), the District of Columbia Court of Appeals addressed for the first time “the affirmative reach” of Rule 5.6(a) of the District of Columbia Rules of Professional Conduct’s prohibition on “restrictions” on “the rights of a lawyer to practice” after terminating an employment relationship. In…
HANOVER, MD (May 13, 2021)- Announcing the selection of Stephen Cornelius among America’s Top 100 Medical Malpractice Litigators® for 2021. Selection to America’s Top 100 Medical Malpractice Litigators® is by invitation only and is reserved to identify the nation’s most exceptional litigators for high-value personal medical malpractice matters. Cornelius began his career at…
Practitioners should consider bifurcating the “trial within a trial” portion of a legal malpractice case to avoid prejudice and promote efficiency. A legal malpractice action arising out of litigation is, in practice, two cases in one. In general terms, a plaintiff must prove both that his or her lawyer failed to meet the standard of…
On April 21, 2021, Eccleston and Wolf attorney Steve Cornelius, along with Deputy Bar Counsel Erin Risch, presented a CLE for the Baltimore County Bar Association on Attorney Grievances: How to Avoid Them and What Happens if You Receive One. The virtual CLE was focused upon the most common rule violations, tips for your practice…
Eccleston & Wolf is proud to announce that Al Frederick has been recognized in Finance Monthly Magazine as an outright winner and recipient of a 2021 Finance Monthly Legal Award in the Ethics category. Now in its 11th year, the Finance Monthly Legal Awards are designed to identify and celebrate the achievements of lawyers, law…
As with all industries facing increasingly vocal consumers enabled by numerous online outlets to comment on products and services, lawyers regularly find themselves targets of negative reviews or other online criticism. However, lawyers are uniquely constrained in their ability to respond to such criticism by applicable ethical rules. The American Bar Association (“ABA”) recently opined…
Does Maryland recognize a stand-alone cause of action for breach of fiduciary duty? According to the Maryland Court of Appeals’ recent decision in Plank v. Cherneski, 469 Md. 548, 231 A.3d 436 (2020), “[c]ourts and commentators have been asking this question for 23 years since this Court articulated its holding in Kann v. Kann, 344…
Virtual court skills are now part of the ever-increasing demands upon lawyers. Trial courts and appeals courts have engaged in the use of virtual technology to allow judicial proceedings to continue notwithstanding the Coronavirus pandemic raging through the country. Appearing virtually in court presents new and unanticipated challenges to the Bar. Here, the experienced attorneys…
The District of Columbia is a generally favorable jurisdiction when it comes to defending legal malpractice claims at the motions stage. According to a significant D.C. Court of Appeals opinion from March 20, 2009, when lawyers make tactical mistakes, they should not be held liable if they acted in good faith. Where an attorney makes…
The United States Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently released guidance and standards relating to employee safety in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. These documents outline the most commonly cited issues during inspections since the pandemic began in March of 2020, and provides insight on how employers should be protecting…