Ethical Considerations When Lawyers Move to a New Law Firm

Arthur D. Burger | Jackson & Campbell, P.C.

Mr. Burger is a national leader in legal ethics, legal malpractice, and the law governing lawyers. He has been representing prominent law firms and lawyers for over two decades. Selected repeatedly as a Best Lawyer® in Ethics and Professional Responsibility by Best Lawyers of America© and as a Super Lawyer® in Professional Liability Defense, Art litigates in the areas of legal malpractice, fiduciary duties, motions to disqualify, internal law firm disputes, and Bar disciplinary proceedings. He also serves as outside counsel to law firms and provides guidance regarding potential conflicts of interest and other ethical dilemmas.

In addition to his experience as a practitioner, Art has a deep background in the jurisprudence of ethics law. He was a member of the Editorial Board of the ABA/Bloomberg Law-Lawyers’ Manual on Professional Conduct and is an Adjunct Professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School of George Mason University, teaching a night class in Professional Responsibility. He was a member of the ten-person American Bar Association (ABA) Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility from 2014 to 2017; an elected District of Columbia Bar Delegate to the ABA House of Delegates from 2011 to 2012, where he worked with the ABA Ethics 20/20 Commission; a member of the District of Columbia Bar Legal Ethics Committee from 2003 to 2009; a member of the District of Columbia Bar Rules of Professional Conduct Review Committee from 1998 to 2004; and he has taught numerous District of Columbia Bar continuing legal education courses (CLE) on legal ethics and has lectured around the country.

Art also serves as an expert witness on legal ethics and the standard of care for lawyers. In Diamond Resorts vs. Newton Group Transfers, LLC, 2022 WL 1642865 (S.D. Fla. 2022), the court found him “more than qualified to give his expert opinion in matters of legal ethics.”

I. The prohibition on law firms imposing restrictive covenants on lawyers who wish to compete – Rule 5.6(a) (see Cohen v. Lord Day & Lord, 75 NY2d 195 (1989); ABA Op. 09-453; ABA Op. 489) | 3:30pm – 3:45pm

II. The potential conflicts of interest a law firm incurs when accepting a new lawyer – Rules 1.7, 1.9(b) and 1.10(a)(2) | 3:45pm – 4:00pm

III. The exception to the duty of confidentiality for migrating lawyers-Rule 1.6(b)(7) | 4:00pm – 4:15pm

IV. The rights of clients to be informed and to freely select counsel-Rule 1.4 (see D.C. bar ethics opinion 273; and Cohen v. Lord Day & Lord.) | 4:15pm – 4:30pm