All articles — page 2

The full archive in alphabetical order, across every field.

Client Trust Accounts and the Rules That Catch Lawyers Out

Property of clients and third persons must be held separate from the lawyer's own, in an account in the state where the lawyer's office sits unless the client consents otherwise, and complete records must be kept for a set period after the matter ends. Receipt of funds in which a client or third person has an interest triggers prompt notice, prompt delivery of what is owed, and an accounting on request. Disputed portions are held apart until the claim is resolved.

6 min readState law

Space & Satellite Law

Commercial Human Spaceflight and Informed Consent

Federal law restrains the FAA from issuing regulations governing the design or operation of a launch vehicle to protect the health and safety of occupants, absent an event or a demonstrated risk that lifts the restraint. In its place the rules require an operator to inform each spaceflight participant in writing of the known hazards, the vehicle's safety record, and the absence of any federal certification, and to obtain written consent before any agreement to fly.

6 min readFederal law

Legal Ethics & Responsibility

Concurrent Conflicts and Consent Confirmed in Writing

A concurrent conflict exists where one client's interests are directly adverse to another's, or where there is a significant risk that a representation will be materially limited by the lawyer's responsibilities to another client, a former client, a third person, or the lawyer's own interests. Some conflicts may be waived by informed consent confirmed in writing; others cannot be waived at all, and the boundary between the two is where most disciplinary trouble begins.

6 min readState law

Legal Ethics & Responsibility

Confidentiality Is Wider Than Privilege

The duty of confidentiality bars a lawyer from revealing information relating to the representation of a client, whatever its source, unless the client gives informed consent, disclosure is impliedly authorized, or an exception applies. The attorney-client privilege is a rule of evidence protecting confidential communications made for the purpose of obtaining legal advice, and it operates only to resist compelled disclosure. The ethical duty is broader in scope and narrower in force.

6 min readState law

Art & Cultural Property

Consignment Agreements and What Happens if the Dealer Fails

Where a consignment falls within the Uniform Commercial Code definition, Article 9 treats it as a security interest and deems the dealer to hold the consignor's own rights in the goods as against the dealer's creditors. An unperfected consignor loses to a lender holding a perfected inventory lien and to a bankruptcy trustee. Perfection requires a financing statement filed where the dealer is located and, for priority over an existing lender, notification before delivery.

6 min readState law

Immigration & Naturalization

Consular Notification When a National Is Arrested Abroad

Under the consular relations treaty, authorities detaining a foreign national must inform that person without delay of the right to have their consular post notified, must notify the post on request, and must forward communications. Consular officers may visit, converse, correspond and help arrange legal representation unless the detainee objects. Bilateral agreements make notification mandatory for some countries. The duty is reciprocal, and remedies for a breach are thin in domestic courts.

6 min readFederal law

Legal Ethics & Responsibility

Contingent Fees and What Must Be in Writing

A contingent fee agreement must be in a writing signed by the client, stating how the fee is determined, the percentages accruing at each stage, the expenses to be deducted, whether they are deducted before or after the contingency is calculated, and which expenses the client owes whatever the outcome. On conclusion the lawyer must give a written statement of the outcome and the remittance. Contingency is barred in criminal defense and in specified domestic matters.

6 min readState law

Antitrust & Competition

Criminal Antitrust Enforcement and the Leniency Program

Agreements among competitors to fix prices, rig bids or allocate markets are felonies under the Sherman Act, carrying imprisonment for individuals and corporate fines that can be calculated as twice the gain or loss where that exceeds the statutory maximum. The Antitrust Division's leniency policy offers non-prosecution to the first qualifying self-reporter and to its cooperating personnel, and to no one else, on conditions of prompt disclosure, complete cooperation and restitution.

6 min readFederal law

Trade & Customs

Customs Penalties and the Value of Prior Disclosure

Section 592 of the Tariff Act penalizes entering or attempting to enter merchandise by means of a material false statement or omission, at three levels of culpability. Maximum penalties run from the domestic value of the merchandise for fraud down to twice the duty loss for negligence. Where a person discloses the circumstances of a violation before, or without knowledge of, the commencement of a formal investigation, the penalty is limited by statute to a far smaller figure.

6 min readFederal law

Art & Cultural Property

Deaccessioning: When a Museum May Sell What It Holds

Deaccessioning is the formal removal of an object from a museum's permanent collection, ordinarily followed by sale or transfer. Authority comes from the institution's governing documents and from state nonprofit and charitable trust law, subject to any restriction in the donor's gift instrument. The recurring constraint is on proceeds: professional standards and, in some states, statute confine them to acquisition and the care of collections and forbid their use for operating costs or debt.

5 min readState law

Franchise & Distribution

Dealer Protection Statutes for Vehicles and Equipment

Motor vehicle, farm equipment and construction equipment dealers are regulated by sector-specific statutes rather than by general franchise acts. These laws require good cause and notice before termination, let existing dealers protest a new or relocated outlet nearby, require warranty reimbursement at retail rates, protect family succession, and oblige a supplier to repurchase inventory on termination. Disputes often begin before a state board.

6 min readState law

Immigration & Naturalization

Defects in a Notice to Appear and What They Do

A notice to appear must state the nature of the proceedings, the legal authority, the conduct alleged, the charges, the right to counsel, the address obligation, and the time and place of the hearing. Omitting the time and place prevents the document from triggering the cutoff of continuous residence, and a later notice supplying it does not cure the omission. Whether the defect defeats the proceeding turns on whether the requirement limits the tribunal's authority or is waived by silence.

6 min readFederal law

Fields of law

This journal

All articles — page 2

Client Trust Accounts and the Rules That Catch Lawyers Out

Commercial Human Spaceflight and Informed Consent

Concurrent Conflicts and Consent Confirmed in Writing

Confidentiality Is Wider Than Privilege

Consignment Agreements and What Happens if the Dealer Fails

Consular Notification When a National Is Arrested Abroad

Contingent Fees and What Must Be in Writing

Criminal Antitrust Enforcement and the Leniency Program

Customs Penalties and the Value of Prior Disclosure

Deaccessioning: When a Museum May Sell What It Holds

Dealer Protection Statutes for Vehicles and Equipment

Defects in a Notice to Appear and What They Do