Warning: New Rules of Professional Conduct Are Here & They Apply to You!

By Neil J Wertlieb

Have you heard?  A comprehensive set of new Rules of Professional Conduct were approved by the California Supreme Court last year.  The new Rules represent the first comprehensive rewrite of the Rules of Professional Conduct in almost 30 years.

When these 69 new Rules went into effect on November 1, 2018, they replaced the 46 Rules of Professional Conduct that previously governed the conduct of attorneys in California.  A number of the new Rules implement controversial or important changes to our former Rules or impose new obligations in California.  

The new Rules can be found on the State Bar’s website by clicking here:  News Rules of Professional Conduct. 

For a brief summary of some of the more important changes reflected in the new Rules, you might want to click on the following articles I wrote in the Daily Journal:

• “New Rules of Conduct: The Disruptive and Controversial,” May 18, 2018 (part 1 of 3-part series)

• “New Rules of Conduct: The Uncontroversial, But Important,” May 25, 2018 (Part 2 of 3-part series)

• “New Rules: The Entirely New Rules,” June 1, 2018 (Part 3 of 3-part series)

All attorneys in the State should be aware of these changes!

Neil J Wertlieb is an Adjunct Professor at UCLA School of Law and a transactional lawyer, who provides expert witness services in litigated disputes involving business transactions and corporate governance, and in cases involving attorney malpractice and attorney ethics. He is a former Chair of the State Bar of California’s Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct, and the current Chair of the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Professional Responsibility and Ethics Committee. He is also a former Chair of the Business Law Section, a former Co-Chair of the Corporations Committee and a current Co-Vice Chair of the Business Litigation Committee of the Business Law Section, and a current Co-Chair (along with David Majchrzak) of the CLA’s Ethics Steering Committee. For additional information, please visit www.WertliebLaw.com.