Ellen C Brotman

December 20, 2021 | The Legal Intelligencer

The rules are great in telling you what you must do (answer client's calls!) and what you mustn't do (steal!). However, between those absolutes there is a wide range of uncertainty that requires me to tell my clients: I'll need to think about that one!

By Ellen C. Brotman

7 minute read

November 30, 2021 | The Legal Intelligencer

But the time saved commuting and communing has given me the opportunity to slow down a bit and observe some trends in my practice. One of these trends reflects a phrase that I often find myself repeating: "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

By Ellen C. Brotman

7 minute read

August 23, 2021 | The Legal Intelligencer

The Rules of Professional Conduct provide guidance on how to make a move, protect your client and avoid conflicts.

By Ellen C. Brotman and Lynn Marietta Nichols

7 minute read

March 05, 2021 | The Legal Intelligencer

While we may still be representing Pennsylvania clients in Pennsylvania matters, does it matter if we are not doing it in Pennsylvania?

By Ellen C. Brotman and Lynn Marietta Nichols

7 minute read

December 18, 2020 | The Legal Intelligencer

Like many of you, we have taken refuge in work. In that spirit, we offer a column that focuses more narrowly and looks at a recent change to Rule of Professional Conduct 1.5. The change adds a new Comment 5 and affects any lawyer who uses contingency fees in their practice.

By Lynn Marietta Nichols and Ellen C. Brotman

7 minute read

December 02, 2020 | The Legal Intelligencer

In the past month, you may have missed two significant pieces of news relating to the death penalty. First, the Trump administration, with seven weeks left in power, has scheduled five executions, the last of which will take place on Jan. 15, 2021, five days before a new anti-death penalty administration is sworn in to power.

By Lynn Marietta Nichols and Ellen C. Brotman

7 minute read

October 23, 2020 | The Legal Intelligencer

At the time I wrote that article, I did not know that the science that could protect us and guide our decisions would be attacked by the very people that should be promoting it, that sensible public health measures that could prevent the spread of disease and save lives would be politicized to divide us and distract us from the greed and corruption in our government.

By Ellen C. Brotman

6 minute read

March 16, 2020 | The Legal Intelligencer

Guiding clients through these troubled waters to land, at least relatively safely, is one of the many rewards of a fulfilling law practice.

By Ellen C. Brotman

6 minute read

November 29, 2019 | The Legal Intelligencer

Whether an impaired attorney is in your firm, beside you as co-counsel on a case, or even opposing you in a matter, your awareness of that impairment implicates several of the Rules of Professional Conduct.

By Ellen C. Brotman

6 minute read

July 17, 2019 | The Legal Intelligencer

At least once or twice a day, after I press the “send” button, I get a panicky feeling that I've made a mistake and there is no going back. Did I send to the right people? Did I attach the right document? Or even worse—did I waive an important privilege?

By Ellen C. Brotman

9 minute read