What Not To Do When You're A Lawyer And Your Brother Dies In A Plane Crash

Law.com reports that a well-known Allentown, Pennsylvania lawyer was indicted by a federal grand jury last week for fabricating wills to add himself as a beneficiary after his lawyer brother and sister-in-law were killed in a plane crash.

According to the indictment, the lawyer and his son conspired with a doctor to present fake wills in Orphans' Court.

The lawyer's lawyer says that none of the three are guilty and that the lawyer/defendant was targeted because he is a prominent lawyer who has successfully sued police departments.

I hope so.

The whole story is here.


Located in Miami, Florida, Brian Tannebaum practices Bar Admission and Discipline and Criminal Defense. Read his free ebook The Truth About Hiring A Criminal Defense Lawyer. Please visit www.tannebaumweiss.com

1-800-235-8619

That's The Florida Bar Ethics Hotline

One of my first questions to those that call me is "have you called the Florida Bar Ethics Hotline?"

Every Florida lawyer should have this number: in their cell phone, on a "sticky" attached to their computer monitor, in their wallet next to the AAA card.

The purpose of the hotline, according to The Florida Bar is to "help guide lawyers through the minefields of conflict dilemmas, confidentiality questions, communication concerns, trust accounting problems, and other ethics difficulties unique to the profession."

The Ethics Hotline can answer questions about your "own contemplated conduct," (not your "friend's") and not questions of law, questions about past conduct, or the subject of a pending grievance.

The opinions are oral, however to receive a written ethics opinion, which takes 3-5 weeks, lawyers may write to The Ethics Department, The Florida Bar, 651 E. Jefferson Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399-2300. An ethics inquiry form is provided on the main ethics page of The Florida Bar website



Located in Miami, Florida, Brian Tannebaum practices Bar Admission and Discipline and Criminal Defense. Read his free ebook The Truth About Hiring A Criminal Defense Lawyer. Please visit www.tannebaumweiss.com

Welcome to My Law License

As a lawyer who represents Bar Applicants and lawyers facing discipline, I am often asked about the rules, procedures, typical outcomes, and general questions about... your law license - whether you are seeking one, want to keep one, or about to lose one.

I hope this blog provides information to allow the reader to discipher the meaning of the rules and the process enough to possibly lessen the common fear that a single Bar Complaint is the end of career (although in some cases it is absolutely is the end).

Take a look around, at the bottom there's some links to "the basics," and to the right a couple blogs of interest. I'm happy to answer any questions that I can, although I will not be giving legal advice on the blog.

So for now it's a work in progress, maybe it always will be.

Located in Miami, Florida, Brian Tannebaum practices Bar Admission and Discipline and Criminal Defense. Read his free ebook The Truth About Hiring A Criminal Defense Lawyer and please visit www.tannebaumweiss.com