Ethics in Claims and Settlements

Vorys attorney Liz Simon presented a webinar titled “Ethics in Claims and Settlements” hosted by Professional Education Broadcast Network on December 1, 2015.

She discussed the following topics:

• Ethics in drafting claims and pleadings – and in settlement negotiations
• Duty to investigate client facts before filing a claim versus duty to investigate the law
• Conflicting approaches of ethics rules and the courts sanctioning ghostwriting litigation
• Understanding when you are required to be candid and when you are allowed to be silent or engage in “puffery”
• Tension between duty of loyalty to client and duties as officer of the court
• Ethics of serving unenforceable subpoenas in the hope of obtaining witness cooperation
• Ethics in settlements—silence about facts, the law, mistakes in settlement documents, and the death of witnesses
• Enforceability of settlement agreements and ethics challenges