Knowing when to tell your client ‘no,’ and other ethical dilemmas

One of the most important ethical obligations a lawyer has is knowing when to tell their client “no.” But how do you know when that moment has come, and how do you deal with it? For legal ethics experts Lawrence J. Fox and Susan R. Martyn, teaching their fellow attorneys how to cope with the dilemmas they may run into at their practices has been a passion for years. It’s also behind their seventh book together, the recently released Fair Fight: Legal Ethics for Litigators. Told in a storytelling format, the book strives to be a reference manual that is also a good read. Fair Fight walks its readers through every step of the litigation process, from recruiting clients—or understanding when you’ve acquired a client—to a sentencing or settlement. In this episode of the Modern Law Library, Fox and Martyn walk the ABA Journal’s Lee Rawles through “the Six C’s” of legal ethics, discuss the writing process that’s made their longtime partnership work, and share their advice for what lawyers most need to keep in mind to meet their ethical duties during the COVID-19 pandemic.