Stark County Law Library Blawg Serving the legal community of Stark County, Ohio September 22, 2005 "Ohio Ethics Opinion: Attorneys as 'Experts'" Posted by Chuck Kallendorf: ÂThe Sept. 13th. issue of BNAÂs U.S. Law Week, has an article relating that ÂOhio disciplinary rule against claiming special competence or experience makes it improper for lawyers to participate in a television stationÂs ÂAsk the Expert program, citing the Supreme CourtÂs ethics board in an Aug. 8th. opinion. The problem was with the programÂs inclusion of the term Âexpert in its title. The ethics board advised that that poses the possibility of problems under DR 2-105(A)(6) of the Code of Professional Responsibility, which, with some exception, prohibits attorneys to claim or imply special competence or experience. Gov.Bar R. XIV , on Âattorney specializations, is one of those exceptions. Lawyers can conduct seminars and participate in radio talk shows, but the board cautioned about things like answering anonymous e-mail requests with generalized responses as they would be otherwise unable to rule out possibilities such as creating conflicts of interest with current or former clients. The article, in referencing the Aug 8th. ethics opinion, noted that | |
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