Total Credits: 1.2 MCLE, 1.2 Ethics, 0.0 Kansas Credit
Attorneys and clients are in a confidential relationship, one that demands the lawyer’s absolute loyalty and zealous representation of client interests. But what if the client refuses to pay his or her lawyer? At that point, the broad and categorical demands of the ethics rules run up against the practical business of running a law practice. This clash of interests raises a range of substantial ethical issues. How can the lawyer compel payment yet continuing representing a client? Must he or she withdraw from the representation? Can the lawyer sue the client or place a lien on client property? Is the lawyer allowed to breach certain confidences in obtaining payment? This program will provide you with a guide to the ethical issues that arise when a client refuses to pay for a lawyer’s legal services, practical methods to ethically obtain payment, and best practices to avoid these disputes.
| Materials | Available after Purchase | ||
| MCLE Form (501.7 KB) | Available after Purchase | ||
Thomas E. Spahn is a partner in the McLean, Virginia office of McGuireWoods, LLP, where he has a substantial practice advising clients on properly creating and preserving the attorney-client privilege and work product protections. For more than 30 years he has lectured extensively on legal ethics and professionalism and has written “The Attorney-Client Privilege and the Work Product Doctrine: A Practitioner’s Guide,” a 750 page treatise published by the Virginia Law Foundation. Mr. Spahn has served as a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility and as a member of the Virginia State Bar's Legal Ethics Committee. He received his B.A., magna cum laude, from Yale University and his J.D. from Yale Law School.
Matthew Corbin is Vice President and Director in the Professional Services Group of AON Risk Services, where he consults with the company’s law firm clients on professional responsibility and liability issues. Before joining AON, he was a partner with Lathrop & Gage, LLP, where he was a trial and appellate lawyer handling professional liability, commercial, business tort, employment, construction, insurance, and regulatory matters. Before entering private practice, he served as a judicial clerk to Judge Mary Briscoe of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Mr. Corbin earned his B.A. from the University of Kansas and his J.D. from the University of Kansas School of Law.
