Lawyers don’t have to invent ways to mess up a case. Sometimes a “mess up” amounts to legal malpractice. The law has become so complex that keeping up, knowing when to refer a case, getting it done at a cost the client can bear, and more all makes law practice difficult. As with all of the learned professions.
How about technical competency? Must the lawyer know who to use the technology-based tools at hand? What about email privacy? Security of cloud-based storage of confidential files? The medical profession has HIPPA (how many HIPPA compliance forms have you signed in the last 12 months?). Now the legal profession is, rightfully, dealing with such issues. The American Bar Association (ABA) has amended the Model Rules of Professional Conduct to address technology:
[in 2012] the ABA’s House of Delegates voted to amend Comment 8 to Model Rule 1.1, which pertains to competence, to read as follows: Maintaining Competence To maintain the requisite knowledge and skill, a lawyer should keep abreast of changes in the law and its practice, including the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology, engage in continuing study and education and comply with all continuing legal education requirements to which the lawyer is subject. (Emphasis added.)
This bears some serious consideration in this rapidly evolving world of technology. Most law practice systems are moving the the “cloud” which means that client data is frolicking about the bits and bytes in the atmosphere of cloud-computing. Is Putin reading yur confidential memos?
Texas has not yet changed its ethical rules to address this, according the Ambrogi’s article. But it cannot be far behind.
