Christopher M. Farella, General Counsel and Member of the Firm in the Litigation and Employment, Labor & Workforce Management practices, in the firm’s New York office, was featured in Bloomberg Law, in “Conference Report: Law Firm GCs Have Plenty to Worry About,” by Helen Gunnarsson. (Read the full version – subscription required.)
Following is an excerpt:
Law firm general counsel shouldn’t expect to catch up on their sleep any time soon, a panel of those lawyers agreed March 5 at Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP’s 24th Annual Legal Malpractice and Risk Management Conference in Chicago. The program, “What’s Keeping General Counsel Awake at Night?” was moderated by Janis M. Meyer. …
Panelist Christopher M. Farella, general counsel for Epstein Becker & Green P.C. in New York, underscored the need for training by referencing Hyundai Motor Company et al. v. Hyundai Technology Group Inc. Farella noted that the plaintiffs’ lawyers had certified that a document inadvertently disclosed by the defendant had been returned and all copies destroyed. It later developed that one lawyer on the team had saved a copy to a file that the firm’s general counsel wasn’t aware of and therefore didn’t find. When the firm tried to use the document at trial, the defendants objected and filed a motion to disqualify the firm. Although the court denied the motion, “the firm looked bad,” Farella said.
Inspired by a recent blowup still reverberating through a Texas bankruptcy court, the panel then considered how a firm general counsel should proceed on learning that a partner is sleeping with a judge who’s presiding over lucrative firm cases. Considerations in this situation transcend mere money, Farella said: at stake are the reputations of your firm, your partner, and your own personal reputation with the court, the partner, your other partners, and your firm’s management.
Firm general counsel must keep in mind the duty of candor toward tribunals under Rule 3.3 and, depending on the circumstances, potential duties to report misconduct under Rules 8.3 and 8.4, Farella said. The firm may have to withdraw from some matters—and explain to those clients why. “You need outside counsel and you’re going to need backup,” he warned. If the partner is a substantial rainmaker and the firm is unwilling to take action, an outside counsel memo or opinion supporting the general counsel’s advice may be necessary “ammunition.” …
Meyer next asked the panelists for their thoughts about lawyers’ use of artificial intelligence to record and transcribe client meetings.
Though there may be valid reasons to record specific meetings, the panelists said doing so as a matter of course, whether with AI or older technology, creates unnecessary risk. Meeting participants, including lawyers, “may not pay attention” during the meeting “because they think they can just read the transcript,” Farella observed. … If the initial transcript draft is circulated for comment and corrections, Farella added “then you have all these additional transcripts floating around,” each with revisions and edits, potentially accumulating in a digital junk drawer. …
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General Counsel / Member of the Firm
