Facing Bar Complaints: How to Protect Your Practice, Your License and How to Ethically Respond
Ed Clinton, Jr. is a principal in the Clinton Law Firm and focuses his practice on business litigation and legal malpractice. In 1991, Ed graduated, cum laude, from Harvard Law School. He was a law clerk to the Honorable Michael S. Kanne of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from September 1991 to September 1992. From 1992 to May 1996, he worked as a commercial litigation associate at Mayer, Brown & Platt. After working at Katten Muchin & Zavis, Ed joined the Clinton Law Firm in 1997 as a shareholder.
2 hour CLE
Get this course, plus over 1,000+ live webinars.
Learn More
Program Summary
Receiving a bar complaint can be one of the most stressful experiences in an attorney’s career—but with proper preparation and a strong understanding of professional obligations, it doesn't have to become a crisis. This CLE webinar provides practical, ethics focused guidance on how to minimize the risk of complaints and effectively respond if one arises.
Using real-world scenarios and best practices, this program explores strategies for complaint prevention through sound client intake procedures, effective communication, diligent representation, and proper trust account management—all in alignment with your duties under Rules 1.1 (Competence), 1.3 (Diligence), 1.4 (Communication), 1.5 (Fees), and 1.15 (Safekeeping Property).
Participants will learn what steps to take when a complaint is filed, including how to carefully review the allegations, notify your malpractice carrier, and draft a clear, honest, and thorough written response—consistent with ethical duties under Rules 3.1 (Meritorious Claims), 3.3 (Candor Toward the Tribunal), 4.1 (Truthfulness in Statements to Others), and 8.4 (Misconduct).
The CLE will also address how to respond when disciplinary authorities request additional information or conduct a deposition, with particular attention to your responsibilities under Rule 8.3 (Reporting Professional Misconduct).
Additionally, this webinar will cover how conflicts of interest (Rule 1.7), organizational representation (Rule 1.13), representation of clients with diminished capacity (Rule 1.14), and multijurisdictional practice issues (Rule 8.5) can complicate disciplinary matters—and how to avoid common pitfalls in these areas.
Whether you’re seeking to prevent complaints or prepare for a response, this session delivers the ethical foundation and practical guidance attorneys need to protect their license and reputation.
This course is co-sponsored with myLawCLE.
Key topics to be discussed:
- Basic tips on avoiding bar complaints
- When you receive the bar complaint
- Drafting the response to the bar complaint
- What to do when the Regulators ask for more information or take your deposition
- Takeaway
Date / Time: May 16, 2025
- 2:00 pm – 4:10 pm Eastern
- 1:00 pm – 3:10 pm Central
- 12:00 pm – 2:10 pm Mountain
- 11:00 am – 1:10 pm Pacific
Closed-captioning available
Speakers
Edward X. Clinton, Jr. | The Clinton Law Firm, LLC
Ed Clinton, Jr. is a principal in the Clinton Law Firm and focuses his practice on business litigation and legal malpractice. In 1991, Ed graduated, cum laude, from Harvard Law School. He was a law clerk to the Honorable Michael S. Kanne of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from September 1991 to September 1992. From 1992 to May 1996, he worked as a commercial litigation associate at Mayer, Brown & Platt. After working at Katten Muchin & Zavis, Ed joined the Clinton Law Firm in 1997 as a shareholder.
Ed has substantial experience in commercial litigation, including breach of contract, business torts, uniform commercial code, and creditors’ rights. He also has substantial experience in the formation of business entities and the negotiating and drafting of the accompanying documents, including shareholder agreements, partnership agreements and operating agreements.
Ed also has experience in representing both plaintiffs and defendants in all manner of legal malpractice claims, including claims arising out of litigation, including personal injury cases and divorce cases, failed corporate transactions, and disputed wills and trusts. Ed Clinton, Jr. also represents lawyers before the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission.
In addition to his extensive litigation practice, Edward X. Clinton, Jr. serves as an expert witness in legal malpractice claims. He has written extensively on the subjects of securities regulation, consumer fraud and trial practice. His clients include doctors, lawyers, computer software companies, shareholders and corporations.
Agenda
I. Basic tips on avoiding bar complaints | 2:00pm – 2:30pm
- Client selection
- Engagement letters
- Manage the trust account
- Watch liens in personal injury cases
- Don’t lose your temper, ever
- You are sad when the client fails to pay, not angry
- Quit when you should
II. When you receive the bar complaint | 2:30pm – 3:00pm
- Take a deep breath
- Don’t make things worse by contacting the client or filing a lawsuit
- Read your insurance policy
- Seriously consider hiring counsel
- After you decide you don’t need counsel, hire counsel
Break | 3:00pm – 3:10pm
III. Drafting the response to the bar complaint | 3:10pm – 3:40pm
- Be factual
- Tell the truth
- Own up to mistakes
- Emphasize why you did what you did
- Get feedback on your draft
- Be complete
- Be truthful
- Do not attack the client
IV. What to do when the Regulators ask for more information or take your deposition | 3:40pm – 4:00pm
- Be truthful and complete
- Get representation before you are interviewed
V. Takeaway | 4:00pm – 4:10pm
- Let’s be careful out there
More CLE Webinars
Trending CLE Webinars
Upcoming CLE Webinars
© 2025 Miami Dade Bar