Nathan M. Crystal – Crystal & Giannoni-Crystal

Published On - December 1, 2024

Nathan M. Crystal Tidbits of ethics

The Utah’s approach to Alternative Business Structures

Utah’s Alternative Business Structures (ABS) framework, implemented through the state’s Regulatory Sandbox, introduces a limited reform to address specific gaps in the delivery of legal services within the Utah market. Utah’s ABS model is narrowly tailored to meet local needs without fundament...

Published On - October 30, 2024

Nathan M. Crystal Tidbits of ethics

Deciding Difficult Questions of Professional Ethics: A Model of Nuanced Decision-Making

How should a lawyer approach decision-making when the Rules of Professional Conduct provide discretion or in situations involving grey areas?My paper Deciding Difficult Questions of Professional Ethics: A Model of Nuanced Decision-Making discusses the benefits for lawyers to use a nuanced approach...

Published On - July 10, 2022

Nathan M. Crystal Tidbits of ethics

Malpractice Action against Criminal Defense Counsel – the “actual innocence rule” and its exceptions

Criminal defense counsel, like any other attorneys, are subject to civil liability for legal malpractice. See generally Ronald E. Mallen, Legal Malpractice (2022 ed.). While legal malpractice cases may be difficult to win because of the requirements of proof of breach of duty, proximate causation,...

Published On - March 29, 2022

Nathan M. Crystal Tidbits of ethics

Improper Threats

Putting aside the strategic wisdom and efficacy of a threat, when is a threat unethical? The Indiana Supreme Court’s recent decision in In re Stout, (No. 20S-DI-719 (Ind. Feb. 3, 2022) provides a good starting point for answering the question. Stout represented the respondent to a petition for a...

Published On - November 29, 2021

Nathan M. Crystal Contracts

Howell v. Covalent Chemical, LLC

The recent South Carolina Court of Appeals decision of Howell v. Covalent Chemical, LLC (#5869 November 3, 2021) was an action under the South Carolina Payment of Wages Act, S.C. Code Ann. §§41-10-10 et. seq. In 2015 defendant Matthew Rowe formed Covalent LLC. The company was incorporated in T...

Published On - October 26, 2021

Nathan M. Crystal Tidbits of ethics

Arbitration of legal malpractice claim upheld by Florida Appellate Court

In Ramkelawan v. Morgan & Morgan, P.A., (3D21-1143 October 20,2021) the Third District Court of Appeal in Florida upheld a malpractice arbitration clause in the defendant’s retainer agreement. Under Florida Rule of Professional Conduct 4-1.5(i) an attorney may not make an agreement for mand...

Published On - October 12, 2021

Nathan M. Crystal Tidbits of ethics

Dealing with Language and Disability Barriers to Communication with Clients

Communication with clients is a fundamental aspect of law practice. Not only is reasonable communication an ethical requirement, under ABA Model Rule 1.4, but it is also a practical necessity as part of the lawyer’s duty of competency. A lawyer cannot adequately advise a client or make tacti...

Published On - October 8, 2021

Nathan M. Crystal Tidbits of ethics

Legal Malpractice case fails for lack of duty when the law is unclear

Legal malpractice is a catchall term for a multiple causes of action, the most basic of which is professional negligence. Like any negligence case, a claim for professional negligence requires the plaintiff to show that the defendant breached a duty to the plaintiff. The Eleventh Circuit’s rec...

Published On - October 8, 2021

Nathan M. Crystal Tidbits of ethics

ABA Opinion Allows Passive Investment by Lawyers in Alternative Business Structure Firms

In Formal Opinion 499 issued September 8, the ABA Ethics Committee dealt with the ethical propriety of a lawyer’s passive investment in an alternative business structure (“ABS”), an entity that allows for nonlawyer ownership. While ABSs are allowed in both the UK and Australia, they have onl...

Published On - October 1, 2021

Nathan M. Crystal Tidbits of ethics

Client Threats and the Attorney-Client Privilege

You represent an unstable client. Choose your area of practice – It happens regardless of field. During the course of a meeting, the client makes threatening statements, which you take seriously: Maybe it’s a client who has lost a civil case and is furious with the judge, who the client thin...

Published On - September 24, 2021

Nathan M. Crystal Tidbits of ethics, Uncategorized

Red Flags for Departing Lawyers and their Former Firms

Lateral hiring, like many other business activities, declined in 2020, but the Spring of 2021 has shown a strong rebound. In light of this development, law firms and lawyers who are considering a move would be interested in two recent cases. Jacobson Holman, PLLC v. Gentner , 244 A.3d 690 (D.C. C...

Published On - September 24, 2021

Nathan M. Crystal Tidbits of ethics

Inadvertent Production and Waiver of Privilege/Work Product Protection

In document-intensive litigation the risk of inadvertent production of material subject to attorney-client privilege or work product protection is a major concern for both plaintiffs and defense counsel. A complex array of rules — ethical, evidentiary, substantive, and pro...

Published On - December 7, 2020

Nathan M. Crystal Tidbits of ethics

Ghostwriting a complaint: ethical issues

May a lawyer ethically “ghost write” a sufficient complaint for the plaintiff to file pro se? This might be attractive to a lawyer when the case appears worthwhile on its face, the statute of limitation is about to run, and the lawyer doesn’t have time to fully evaluate the case. Once the comp...

Published On - October 13, 2020

Nathan M. Crystal Tidbits of ethics

The Lawyer-Witness Rule Explained

In Fine Housing, Inc. v. Sloan, 2020 S.C. App. LEXIS 89 (S.C. Ct. App. 2020), the court of appeals discussed a number of aspects of the lawyer-witness rule, South Carolina Rule of Professional Conduct 3.7, which is identical to the ABA Model Rule. First, the court recognized that disqualification un...

Published On - October 1, 2020

Nathan M. Crystal Covid-19 resources, Tidbits of ethics

Unauthorized practice of law and Covid19 – change is in the air

Consider the situation of a lawyer who works at home from a jurisdiction different from the jurisdiction in which the lawyer is admitted to practice. This might occur because the lawyer is now working at home because of Covid19, or the lawyer is a part-time employee working virtually for a law firm...

Published On - June 14, 2020

Nathan M. Crystal Latest News, News

On June 12, 2020, Nathan Crystal spoke at the PLI on Professionalism in Context: Examples and Approaches

This is an abstract of the program that I co-presented with Craig Dobson and that had more than 600 attendees from all across the country. Professionalism in Context: Examples and Approaches The program focused on development of a philosophy of lawyering, including the relationship between zeal an...

Published On - February 22, 2020

Nathan M. Crystal Tidbits of ethics

Evolving scrutiny of prosecutorial misconduct

As it well known, prosecutors are subject to the same ethics rules as lawyers. There some notable differences, however. Prosecutors, unlike lawyers, have an obligation to do justice (see Comment [1] to Model Rule 3.8[i] and case law[ii]), although the exact boundaries of this obligation are unclear....

Published On - February 11, 2020

Nathan M. Crystal Tidbits of ethics

Accepting lawyers’ fees in cryptocurrency – Formal Opinion 2019-5

In Formal Opinion 2019-5, the New York City Bar Ethics Committee was asked the following question: Is a fee agreement requiring the client to pay for legal services in cryptocurrency a business transaction governed by Rule 1.8(a)? (emphasis added) The Committee advised that agreements requiring the ...

Published On - February 6, 2020

Nathan M. Crystal Tidbits of ethics

A “key employee insurance policy” can be voided by failure to disclose material information

On October 9, 2019, Series 1 of Oxford Insurance Company NC, LLC (“Oxford’) filed a complaint in the US District Court for the Western District of North Carolina against Buckley, LLP seeking a judgement on whether or not Oxford has any obligation to indemnify Buckley under an insurance p...

Published On - February 6, 2020

Nathan M. Crystal Tidbits of ethics

The rise of the shadow lobbyists

Under the Lobbying Disclosure Act, members of Congress are required to wait a certain period after they leave office before they are allowed to lobby. Former members of the House of Representatives are required to wait one year while former members of the Senate are required to wait two years. Howev...

Published On - December 4, 2019

Nathan M. Crystal Tidbits of ethics

WP doctrine: a recent case

In Johnson v. Air Liquide Large Industries U.S. L.P., Case No. 2:18-CV-259-WCB, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 152963, (E.D. Tex. Sept. 9, 2019), a district court in Texas analyzed both attorney client privilege (ACP) and work product (WP) protection for documents created in an investigation. The court compa...

Published On - October 21, 2019

Nathan M. Crystal Tidbits of ethics

The Vast Unmet Need for Legal Services

We live in the age of “disruption.” … Can we understand what is happening in the legal services industry, and can we envision where these developments are likely to lead so that we can begin to prepare for the future? Perhaps surprisingly, some interesting answers come from Utah...

Published On - October 7, 2019

Nathan M. Crystal Tidbits of ethics

Lawyers may direct clients to fee financing

On November 27, 2018, the American Bar Association issued ABA formal opinion 484 addressing attorneys’ ethical obligations when clients use companies or brokers to finance their fees. ABA Formal Opinion 484 considers fee financing arrangements of the types described below as ethically permissible ...

Published On - May 17, 2019

Nathan M. Crystal Tidbits of ethics

Is that ethical for a lawyer to accept earnest money through PayPal?

Is that ethical for a lawyer to accept earnest money through PayPal? The SC Ethics Advisory Committee opined that it is with certain caveats. In Opinion 18-05 (“Lawyer accepting earnest money deposits from a client through PayPal” the Committee opined that A lawyer is required to hold pr...

Published On - April 15, 2019

Nathan M. Crystal Tidbits of ethics

Does a lawyer need to preserve or turn over information if after an initial consultation the lawyer is not retained?

In Ethics Opinion 3474(Ethical Obligations Regarding Prospective Client Information),the D.C. Bar Legal Ethics Committee opined on an interesting issue: whether there is an ethical duty to preserve......

Published On - November 28, 2018

Nathan M. Crystal Latest News

Nathan Crystal’s videos …

Francesca Giannoni-Crystal spoke of Data Transfer & GDPR......