COURSE DESCRIPTION
As the legal profession continues to evolve alongside the modern workforce, freelance and contract-based legal services are becoming increasingly common. This program explores the ethical challenges and professional responsibilities attorneys face when participating in the gig economy, including issues related to confidentiality, supervision, client relationships, and regulatory compliance. Attendees will gain practical guidance for navigating remote and flexible legal work while maintaining adherence to applicable rules of professional conduct.
- Understand ethical obligations related to competence, supervision, and unauthorized practice in freelance legal work
- Analyze confidentiality risks and data security considerations when working remotely or through third-party platforms
- Navigate fee-splitting rules, client relationships, and disclosure requirements in contract-based engagements
- Identify best practices for maintaining professionalism, avoiding conflicts of interest, and ensuring compliance with applicable rules
Speaker:
Thomas E. Spahn is a partner in the McLean, Virginia office of McGuireWoods, LLP, where he has a substantial practice advising clients on properly creating and preserving the attorney-client privilege and work product protections. For more than 30 years he has lectured extensively on legal ethics and professionalism and has written “The Attorney-Client Privilege and the Work Product Doctrine: A Practitioner’s Guide,” a 750 page treatise published by the Virginia Law Foundation. Mr. Spahn has served as a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility and as a member of the Virginia State Bar's Legal Ethics Committee. He received his B.A., magna cum laude, from Yale University and his J.D. from Yale Law School.