Legal Profession & Ethics

The attorneys at Zuckerman Spaeder LLP have decades of experience representing lawyers and law firms in matters ranging from ethics and loss prevention to litigation and criminal investigations. As the legal profession becomes more regulated, lawyers and law firms turn to us for advice and assistance in negotiating an increasingly complex environment.

Litigation and Enforcement
Zuckerman Spaeder represents lawyers and law firms in high-stakes civil and criminal litigation and other enforcement actions, as well as in state, federal, and congressional investigations. We have prosecuted and defended malpractice actions throughout the United States, and our attorneys have served as expert witnesses on ethics and related matters in a variety of courts and jurisdictions.

As outside ethics counsel, Zuckerman Spaeder is called in to represent law firms facing disqualification or sanctions in high-profile litigation. We also handle matters arising when internal disputes over compensation, departures, or clients ripen into litigation. In particularly sensitive matters, we represent current and former government attorneys under investigation for their official conduct.

Counseling
To address the increasing complexity of the practice of law, our attorneys draft and revise partnership and shareholder agreements, structure complex leasing and financing transactions, and counsel law firms and lawyers regarding partner departures and firm mergers, dissolutions, and bankruptcies. We also advise clients in the management of ancillary businesses, including lobbying, and formation of alliances with non-lawyers and between U.S.-based and foreign-based firms.

Additionally, Zuckerman Spaeder acts as regular outside counsel for many large law firms, advising our clients on ethics, loss prevention, firm governance, and internal disputes. We work with law firm general counsels and ethics partners to provide practical and effective guidance concerning conflicts of interest, disputes involving client funds, lawyer misconduct, bar admissions, advertising, lateral hiring, and client confidentiality.

Bar Leadership
Zuckerman Spaeder attorneys participate in bar activities related to the issues facing lawyers and law firms. Our attorneys have served in leadership positions on their respective jurisdictions’ boards on professional responsibility, as well as on the local committees that hear evidence and make recommendations with respect to disciplinary charges against members of the bar. Attorneys from Zuckerman Spaeder have also participated in revising the Rules of Professional Conduct, disciplinary system procedures, and other regulations of the legal profession in our jurisdictions.

Sign up for information about Zuckerman Spaeder's Ethics Seminar Series.