CSDACA | CHILD SUPPORT DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION of California

  • ABOUT CSDA
    • CSDA Fact Sheet
    • CSDA Board of Directors
    • CSDA Membership
      • Online Request Form
    • California Child Support Related Legislation
    • News & Media
    • Career Opportunities
    • CSDA 2019 Business Plan
      • CSDA 2018 Business Plan
      • CSDA 2017-2019 Strategic Business Plan
    • One Voice CSDA Newsletter May 2019
      • One Voice Editorial Board
      • One Voice CSDA Newsletter Mar 2019
      • One Voice CSDA Newsletter Jan 2019
      • Special Edition – One Voice CSDA Newsletter – Jan 2019
  • COMMITTEES
  • OUTREACH & EDUCATION
    • Military
    • Media
    • Facts Sheets
      • Fact Sheet Translations
    • Employers
      • Employers Forum
    • Incarcerated/Recently Released Obligor Materials
  • TRAINING & EVENTS
    • 2020 Children & Families Policy Symposium
      • 2019 Policy Symposium
    • 2020 Annual Training Conference & Expo
      • 2019 Training Conference & Expo
    • Legal Training
      • Veteran’s Benefits
      • Federal Payments
    • Scholarships
      • 2018 Child Support Training Conference & Expo – Scholarship Experiences
    • Call for Proposals
  • ABOUT CHILD SUPPORT
    • CSDA Funding Tenets
    • Federal Fact Sheet on “The Rule” (Flexibility, Efficiency, and Modernization in Child Support Enforcement Programs)
    • Federal Performance Measures
    • State Performance Measures
    • Office of Child Support Enforcement Strategic Plan
    • California Department of Child Support Services Strategic Plan
    • Public Policy
      • Affordable Care Act
    • Access to Services
      • Child Support: What You Need to Know
      • CA DCSS – YouTube Channel
    • Child Support Awareness Month
  • STORE
    • Cart

LPC Corner – Changes to the Ethics Rule

August 31, 2018 by Danielle Wermund

By Colin S. Anderson, Yolo County DCSS

For years the California State Bar has been talking about changing the Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys in the State of California. This topic was raised at the last CSDA Legal Practices Committee meeting on June 14 and 15 held at the Judicial Council’s office in Sacramento. The changes that impact your Local Child Support Agency (LCSA), and in particular your Managing and Supervising/Lead Attorney, I will discuss shortly. First, here is some background: In 2015, the California Supreme Court told the California State Bar to update its Rules of Professional Conduct. The idea was to bring California rules in line with the National Standard, i.e., the American Bar Association’s (ABA) model rules. Those of us who took the Professional Responsibility Exam remember that you had to study not only the California rules but the ABA model rules. They also had a different numbering system. That has now changed, and California and the ABA model rules have essentially the same numbering. In essence, the State Bar has blended the ABA model rules with California law. The new rules were submitted to the California Supreme Court on March 9, 2018, and the Supreme Court approved them with some minor changes on May 10, 2018. To most observers this was a really quick turnaround. The approved rules will go into effect November 1, 2018. Here is the link to the new rules.

How does this impact your LCSA and your legal operations? New Rule 5.1 defines the responsibilities of Managerial and Supervisory Lawyers. Subsection (a) mandates that a Supervisory Lawyer, “…shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that the firm has in effect measures giving reasonable assurance that all lawyers in the firm comply with these rules and the State Bar Act.” A local child support agency (LCSA) will be considered a “firm” for the sake of this section. The new rules go on to state a Supervising Lawyer can be held responsible for his or her subordinate’s violation of the ethics rules if: The Supervising Lawyer orders or, with knowledge of the relevant facts and of the specific conduct, ratifies the conduct involved or the Supervising Lawyer knows of the conduct at a time when its consequences can be avoided or mitigated but fails to take reasonable action. In addition, Supervising Lawyers in our LCSAs can be held to the same standard as above, under certain circumstances, for the unethical conduct of the non-lawyer assistants employed by an LCSA. The specifics can be found at Rule 5.3 included in the above link. Since so much of our operations are involved in the legal process, this is something to think about. These codified changes should be reviewed by all legal staff and potentially new policies and procedures implemented in light of these ethical standards.

Filed Under: OneVoice CSDA Newsletter, September 2018

Members Login

  • Login
  • Register
  • Forgot Your Password?
  • Cricket’s Hope

    CRICKET'S HOPE IS A NOT-FOR-PROFIT ORGANIZATION SERVING CHILDREN IN STANISLAUS COUNTY

Child Support Directors Association of California

2150 River Plaza Drive, Suite 420, Sacramento, California 95833

For information or assistance with your personal child support case please call (866) 901-3212

  • Privacy Policy
  • Member Login
  • Sitemap

Copyright © 2021 · Child Support Directors Association of California