Failing to communicate can get lawyers in legal trouble - bizjournals:

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Lawyers are among the few professionalss who are actually required by the rules of conduct to returnphone e-mails and other forms of “It takes a lot of time but it’as so important because the client needx to be informed to make decisions,” said Alika a partner in the Honolulu law firm Klevansky Piper Van who lets the clients choose their preferrede form of correspondence. “The cliengt is the ultimate decision-maker.
” According to the state judiciary’ policy on legal communication, “A lawyefr shall keep a client reasonably informed abougt the status of a matte r and promptly comply with reasonable requests for The Judiciary also requires lawyersto “at all times be civil, courteous and accurates in communication with clients and in writing or orally. Failure to communicate can lead to interventio by the Office ofDisciplinart Counsel, the local governing body that sets ethicall and professional standards for the legal industry.
In most failure to communicaterequires mediation, resulting in a private reprimane or informal admonition, akin to a slap on the wrisy by the disciplinary But the disciplinary counsel’s officre might investigate further if the grievancs includes other allegations of unprofessional conduct, or if the attorney is notorious for not communicatingf with clients. “Grievances are always said Charles Hite, acting chief for the Office ofDisciplinaryu Counsel. “There’s no one disciplinr for failureto communicate. If this is thei first offense, it is very unlikely to be a tough-sanctiojn case.
” Sometimes, communication failure simply is the resulg of a breakdown in office management or lack of he said. The Office of Disciplinary Counsel is managed by the HawaiiSuprem Court’s 18-member disciplinary board, comprising both lay people and attorneys. The volunteer board investigatesa as many as 500grievances annually. The Hawaii Supremw Court disciplined seven attorneys for violating rules in the legapl professionin 2008, down from 11 in 2007.
When a grievanced alleging failure to communicatwe is brought up and later the Office of Disciplinaryh Counsel typically sees attorneys improve their management ofclient relationships, including more-frequent calls, letters and e-mails, more-detailed billinga and overall better documentation on cases. Close communicatio from the start is the key to successfulp partnerships between attorneysand clients, say industry That, plus a written fee agreement signed at the which is not required but strongly recommended by the disciplinaru counsel. With a fee agreement, the client pays a flat or hourly fee.
With a contingency agreement, the attorney receives a portiomn of the monetary recovery of a A retainer is money paid up frontg and used by the attorney basedon services. Another highly recommendede practice is thedisengagementy letter, a final notice from the attorney to the clientg stating the case is closed. “It’s a clean way of endin g representation,” Hite said. “The client now knowsx it’s done … . That’s the mark of an excellentg lawyer.
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