Given today’s economic climate, would a lawyer be crazy to even consider launching a solo practice or small firm? Not necessarily. Six lawyers with different motivations, practice areas, and geographic locations extol the ups – and downs – of setting off on their own.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 strengthens federal privacy laws enacted in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. Health care providers and their vendors and business associates all are now liable for unauthorized disclosures of individuals’ health care information. New provisions govern electronic information and how notification of a breach is to be made. The rules are complex, with many exceptions. And more changes are expected.

Why would a client refuse even to look at an interpreter, possibly derailing an otherwise sound case? Obstinance? Doubtful. Shame at needing to use a legal system she knows nothing about? Maybe. How about fear and anger, because someone of the interpreter’s ethnicity burned the client’s village or worse? This is just one example of how the melting pot that is American society presents multiple opportunities and challenges for lawyers who represent clients from diverse cultures.

Lawyers owe a duty of loyalty to clients, and the existence of a conflict means that duty is impaired. Waiver letters force clients and lawyers to think hard about what they are doing, because waiving a conflict is an important decision with long-range effects. This article discusses the types of information that must normally be included in a waiver letter and provides a framework for thinking about the issue.