Nevada Lawyer: Ethics

  • Law

If you didn’t get it in the mail already, you should soon be receiving the September issue of Nevada Lawyer dealing with ethics. The issue includes articles on integrity from Bar Counsel Dan Hooge; unlawful solicitation by Matthew Hoffman; lawyer advertising by Sheila Van Duyne; ghost lawyering by Neha Kalra (including CLE); lawyer liars by Randolph M. Fiedler and Sarah M. Molleck; and, how to increase your billable hours without getting disbarred or sued by Phil Aurbach. Which of these articles did you learn the most from? Anything to add?

From the Nevada Independent, we have articles on AG Aaron Ford and AG candidate Sigal Chattah.

The RJ has articles on the formation of a task force to study how often traffic tickets are reduced to parking violations and @JudgeJoeHardy ruling that  the Nevada Board of Pharmacy’s classification of marijuana as a schedule 1 drug is unconstitutional

Finally, the District of Nevada sent out the following press release:

SCAM ALERT – Federal Courts do not phone or email individuals requesting money to avoid arrest. In various parts of the United States, including Nevada, citizens are being targeted by phone calls and emails threatening them with prosecution for failing to pay a bond or failing to appear for a hearing or jury service. In the calls and emails, recipients may be pressured to provide confidential data, potentially leading to identity theft and fraud. The recipients may be pressured to provide some sort of immediate payment to the caller. These calls and emails are fraudulent and are not connected with the U.S. Courts. If you receive such a call, it is not a legitimate call from the U.S. District Court. The court does not require anyone to provide sensitive information or money over the phone or email.

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Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 15, 2022 5:24 pm

Ethics. Good stuff, but nothing that dissuaded me from the belief that small/solo firms are the low hanging fruit in bar discipline and that the "connected" and large firms get a pass.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 15, 2022 6:09 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Ghost lawyering = SOLO low hanging fruit.

Fuck you. I will continue to help my friends as needed. Been doing this very thing for well over 20 years and will not stop it.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 15, 2022 10:17 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Yeah, helping friends I can see. But ghosted docs is a problem because the lay person presenting them don't know the purpose, the process, or the argument. I believe that generally, ghosting is a disservice to the public. I especially dislike lawyers that charge a few hundred bucks to prepare a so-so document and then abandon the lay person.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 16, 2022 3:46 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

It does if you walk them through it.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 15, 2022 5:27 pm

I have been reading the news articles about Telles. I am a bit confused though about what his role was with the Nevada Bar. Is that just a volunteer thing with no real role (like a BS line item for a resume or to fulfill some bar requirement)? Or was he actually chosen and presented to the public as someone of character and professionalism that should critique other bar members?

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 15, 2022 6:48 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

As far as I know, the only role that Telles had with the State Bar is as a volunteer officer on the board of the Probate Section. The members of the Probate Section (i.e., practicing probate attorneys) vote on the officers and he threw his name out there a couple years ago to fill an open position. It's just a voluntary position with limited authority of any real kind. The State Bar, as such, really has nothing to do with the officers of the boards of the various sections. I'm not aware of him having any other role with the State Bar, particularly not in a position to critique other bar members.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 15, 2022 5:34 pm

The advertising article was weird. Basically said that you can do whatever you want on line. It was odd.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 15, 2022 6:34 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Yes, there is a disconnect. Send something by mail, strict compliance. Understandable when the letter scares the lay recipient. But apply the same rules to postcards (everybody knows postcards are advertising) makes no sense. And as 10:34 noted, everything is permitted on a web site. The rule on direct mail is antiquated and needs to be brought up to the de facto realties of today. And what about advertising by email and text messaging?

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 15, 2022 5:53 pm

hahahaha integrity from Hooge, I literally cannot breathe right now hahahaha the world really is crazy OMG snot is running down my face

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 15, 2022 5:55 pm

I'm just an anonymous dude on the internet but if you knew what I knew about the bar, you'd literally shit in your pants right now, and yes I am 10:53

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 15, 2022 6:24 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Dish, dude. Dish….

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 15, 2022 6:36 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

10:55 Come on, share. Use fake names if needed to protect yourself.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 15, 2022 8:35 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Look at who is there. Look at the Nevada Supreme Court come on .what do you expect?

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 15, 2022 8:54 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

We need to start a Draft Rob Bare campaign. OBC has been on a steady decline since he left.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 15, 2022 9:00 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Rob Bare is the man. He was exceptional on the bench. Miss having him there! Great legal acumen, demeanor and work ethic, but the wrong gender.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 15, 2022 6:11 pm

how to increase your billable hours without getting disbarred or sued by Phil Aurbach.

Well, damn! I don't want to be sued by Phil Aurbach. I mean, M&A is a shell of its former self, but I still don't want that.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 15, 2022 6:26 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Phil, when will you give the M&A associates a raise or give the M&A partners any equity?? You ham handed grinch.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 16, 2022 12:47 am
Reply to  Anonymous

Listen here,walrus. Phil can barely afford toothpicks. So,stfu

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 16, 2022 1:54 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Phill is hungry. Ever since his cash cow, TAC bolted for greener pastures.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 15, 2022 7:00 pm

Taks force to study reduction to parking ticket?
OMG – a stupid waste. Go on the City's web site, almost any violation can be reduced to parking by paying the full fine online. Speaking as someone who has sat for the Traffic Commissioner, nearly EVERY person appearing in court on a violation (not an accident, not excessive speed, etc) gets reduced to a parking ticket (but still has to pay the full moving violation fine).

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 15, 2022 7:23 pm

Agreed that the task force is a total waste of money. But it is because they wont do anything.

The PURPOSE, if you read the article is to study and make recommendations to the legislature. My take is that with serious offenders getting lots of tickets "fixed" and then killing someone as a result of their driving, is a problem that they want addressed. In other words, Bye Bye ticket mills.

That said, as some one who had handled a few thousand tickets in my over 20 years. There are in fact heavy offenders. I have several individuals, even friends that I have fixed dozens (no exaggeration) of tickets for over the years, as many as 6-8 in a year. They are clearly problem drivers.

I just looked it up and my lead offender, I have fixed 34 tickets for him since 2003 and with two pending tickets currently in process with my office (3 accidents and 3 reckless). In 2nd place, she is at 25 since 2005, as recent as May, 2022 (4 accidents and a reckless).

Point is, making rain this way may go bye bye, if the legislature gets away with it. It will be interesting to see what happens with the recent decriminalization of traffic offenses.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 15, 2022 8:25 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I hear you. But the City has excellent data, tracking everything. The data can be sliced and parsed as fine as the legislature wants. But it doesn't take a "task force". The City has written its own traffic software. A mid level programmer would take maybe 30 minutes to write the first SQL query and maybe 15 minutes for every additional query.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 15, 2022 8:32 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

1223 here. No, I agree. A task force investigation almost never accomplishes anything of substance. This is no exception. The irony is that the Task Force's first order of business is likely hiring a mid level programmer to do exactly what you suggest.

I was just trying to articulate the problem as I see that they see it. I am not sure its really a problem that will be fixed by eliminating the fixers.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 15, 2022 8:34 pm

Test

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 15, 2022 10:20 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Fail

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 15, 2022 10:07 pm

Sort of off topic, but since scams are a part of this thread, let me ask about romance scams. An acquaintance just got taken for sending over $200,000. to a young beautiful, super-model looking-type, less than half his age.(her photo. belonged to someone else,( a reverse google search shows it was stolen from social media postings).

I've read, heard, and seen(on t.v., internet, etc.) about these scams, but this is the first time I have actually known someone who admitted falling victim.

Do any of you know someone well who fell victim? Details? Did any of you fall victim?(please don't hesitate to share as almost all of us post anonymously).

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 15, 2022 10:19 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Sort of related, but there is a great Manti Teo documentary on Netflix.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 15, 2022 10:51 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

3:07 PM–Romance scams. Was the acquaintance an attorney? Embarassing if the case. You hear about law firms being scamed on money transfers and receiving checks that are more for the amount billed so anything is possible. I always tell my clients to hire a private investigator or at least do a internet subscription check that you pay for.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 16, 2022 1:56 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

The Manti documentary was fantastically done. You almost sympathize with the catfisher.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 19, 2022 3:50 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

@6:56 I would argue that's why it was not fantastically done. Nobody ever held her to account for the damage she caused Manti T'eo. She caused him millions in salary, a first round draft pick spot, and made him look like a naïve fool to the public. But it's all forgivable because of her gender confusion.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 19, 2022 4:42 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

@656 here.

Agreed. That said, I didn't buy / accept that angle. The catfisher's sexual preference and later gender identity are irrelevant to the acts that caused damage to Manti Teo. But Netflix cant exactly come out and document the harshness undoubtedly deserved by the catfisher.

But, I have to believe that Manti's forgiveness is genuine and he would not want the catfisher portrayed in such a way.

My $0.02

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 15, 2022 10:09 pm

Could be that 3:07 was actually a victim. When people refer to a "friend" doing something really stupid, naïve and desperate, I get suspicious.

That said, very interesting topic, and I too would like to hear people's experiences.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 15, 2022 10:40 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

This is almost too entertaining. Is a made-for-TV movie in the works?

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 15, 2022 10:50 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

How has Telles’s wife not filed for divorce yet? Will her marital assets be at risk in the inevitable civil suit for wrongful death by Telles’s estate?

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 16, 2022 5:11 am
Reply to  Anonymous

His wife took all his money before he was arrested. She doesn’t need a divorce immediately. It’s a problem for him though because now he can’t afford a lawyer.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 16, 2022 2:02 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Wow. He is a bad drunk. The slurring, the grandstanding. Maybe this is what German was working on.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 15, 2022 11:57 pm

3:09 I had a client who was a legitimate open actress, u would know her name, guys lined up to give her money and she would lead them on, I mean to me insane money, I met her at fashion show and she shows me a bracelet for around 30,000 he just bought her, but anyway I was on the other end, many threatened to sue, I would respond and none ever sued, and to save u the trouble of writing the obvious yay I think she whored some too, anyway good times, and to be honest she offered me but I was so fn scared of disease I never unleashed the zipper sausage, tell ur friend to move on, those kind of women just move never pay etc

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 16, 2022 2:48 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

It is all relative. If people can afford it, then who cares. To each there own. Now scamming someone is different.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 16, 2022 12:23 am

A friend of mine is proud and glad to be a prolific ghost lawyer. Does it 100% for free. No sausage party or anything. Just likes to help and will not stoop to seeking BB's blessing of such acts of charity.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 16, 2022 2:44 am

#IstandwithMarthasVineyard