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    Wisconsin Lawyer
    March 01, 2003

    Career: The Ethics of Transitioning to a New Job: Caveat!

    To avoid serious ethical consequences, be sure you review relevant ethics rules and guidelines in the jurisdiction in which you are employed.

    Keith Kaap

    Wisconsin Lawyer
    Vol. 76, No. 3, March 2003

    The Ethics of Transitioning to a New Job: Caveat!

    To avoid serious ethical consequences, be sure you review relevant ethics rules and guidelines in the jurisdiction in which you are employed.

    by Keith J. Kaap

    Lawyers terminating employment relationships to accept other employment, enter into a new association, or open their own practices should review relevant ethics rules and guidelines in the jurisdiction in which they are employed. In Wisconsin, for example, lawyers would want to review Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules 20:1.16 and 20:7.3 in particular and State Bar of Wisconsin Standing Committee on Professional Ethics Formal Opinion E-97-2.

    For a broader, national perspective on ethics issues relating to employment change, lawyers may wish to review American Bar Association Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility Formal Opinion 99-414 and the Restatement of the Law Governing Lawyers, vol. 1, pp. 87-97 (ALI, 2000). Lawyers should not rely upon the general content of the accompanying article for guidance on these ethics issues.

    Keith J. Kaap, U.W. 1971, is th State Bar of Wisconsin Ethics Consultant on the ethics hotline. He can be reached at (800) 444-9404,ext. 6161, or (608) 250-6168 (all day Wednesday); and (608) 629-5721 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings.


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