The Lawyers' Lawyer Newsletter - Recent Developments in Risk Management - December 2012 Edition

• Attorneys’ Fees — Standards for Review of Request for Court Awarded Legal Fees 
• Document and File Retention — Obligations With Respect to Missing Clients
• Attorney-Client Relationship — Limiting the Scope of the Representation — Identification of the Client — Representing Corporations and (or) Their Constituents 

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Attorneys’ Fees — Standards for Review of Request for Court Awarded Legal Fees 

Toussie v. County of Suffolk, 2012 WL 3860760 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 6, 2012)

Risk Management Issue: What are a lawyer’s duties and responsibilities when entering and recording time charges, and what standards should attorneys expect courts to apply in reviewing requests for the award of reasonable attorney’s fees pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988?

Document and File Retention — Obligations With Respect to Missing Clients

Nebraska Ethics Advisory Opinion for Lawyers, No. 12-07

Risk Management Issue: How long must lawyers and law firms retain client documents and files? What should attorneys do to avoid the problem that clients cannot be located when the time comes for the disposition of their files? What investigation must be undertaken to locate missing clients prior to destruction of their documents and files?

Attorney-Client Relationship — Limiting the Scope of the Representation — Identification of the Client — Representing Corporations and (or) Their Constituents
Mark Kirschner v. K&L Gates LLP, Sanford Ferguson, Pascarella & Wiker, LLP, and Carl A. Wiker, 2012 Pa. Super. 102, 46 A.3d 737 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2012)

Risk Management Issue: When does representation of a corporate constituent also entail representation of the corporation? What can law firms do to limit the scope of representation and avoid the establishment of an attorney-client relationship in a corporate family context?

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This newsletter has been prepared by Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP to provide information on recent legal developments of interest to our readers. It is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship.