Ethics for New Associates: What an Unverified Filing Costs

David C. Carr, Ethics Lawyer | Law Office of David C. Carr

David C. Carr is an ethics lawyer whose practice is State Bar discipline defense, legal ethics advice, attorney licensing, and ethics expert testimony. He spent twelve years at the State Bar of California as a staff attorney, Deputy Trial Counsel, and Assistant Chief Trial Counsel before moving to the defense side of the discipline system he once worked within.

• Education & Credentials

He earned his J.D. from Loyola Law School Los Angeles in 1986 and a B.A. in History from UCLA in 1977. He was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1986, the State Bar of Texas in 2022, and the State Bar of New Mexico in 2023, and is admitted to the U.S. District Courts for the Central (1986), Southern (2002), and Northern (2004) Districts of California.

• Recognition & Leadership

He holds an AV Preeminent peer review rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the highest rating for legal ability and ethical standards awarded by fellow attorneys. He served as President of the Association of Discipline Defense Counsel from 2008 to 2011, and from 2018 to 2021 sat on COPRAC, the State Bar of California’s Standing Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct, the body that issues California’s formal ethics opinions. He has published more than twenty articles on legal ethics in the San Diego Daily Transcript, the Los Angeles Daily Journal, and San Diego County Bar Association publications, and has delivered more than twenty presentations to bar and professional groups on topics including client trust accounts, fee agreements, and technology in law practice. He also writes two long-running commentaries on California attorney discipline, the Kafkaesq blog and California Legal Ethics.

• Professional Involvement

He is a member of the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers and the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility and has served on the San Diego County Bar Association Legal Ethics Committee since 2002. He was an adjunct professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law from 2017 to 2021.

• Experience

He began his career as a business and commercial litigator before joining the State Bar of California in 1989, where he spent twelve years as a staff attorney (1989), Deputy Trial Counsel (1992–1999), and Assistant Chief Trial Counsel and Manager in the discipline enforcement office (1999–2001), prosecuting and supervising attorney discipline cases. In 2001 he established the Law Office of David C. Carr, a practice devoted exclusively to legal ethics and State Bar matters and has since represented hundreds of California attorneys and bar applicants. He defends lawyers at every stage of the disciplinary process, from the initial State Bar inquiry through investigation and formal proceedings before the State Bar Court of California and the California Supreme Court and represents applicants in moral character and reinstatement matters before the Committee of Bar Examiners.

SESSION 1 – Verification, Supervision, and How a Sanctions Order Becomes Bar Discipline | 2:30pm – 3:30pm

This session examines the personal filing obligations every new associate assumes the moment they sign a pleading, motion, or paper under FRCP Rule 11(b) and 28 U.S.C. § 1927, with particular focus on the AI-hallucination cases reshaping sanctions law in 2024–2025. Attorneys will learn how the supervisory framework under Model Rules 5.1 and 5.2 allocates responsibility between associates and supervising partners — and where the ‘I followed orders’ defense fails. The session closes by tracing the referral pipeline from a sanctions order to state bar discipline, including reciprocal discipline across jurisdictions, so new associates understand the full professional-life consequences of a single deficient filing.

BREAK | 3:30pm – 3:40pm

SESSION 2 – Client Communication and Billing Judgment: From the First Time Entry Through the Fee Dispute | 3:40pm – 4:40pm

This session teaches new associates the ethical framework governing client communication and legal billing from the moment they record their first time entry through the resolution of a fee dispute. Attorneys will learn how Model Rules 1.4, 1.5, and 1.15 apply to everyday billing decisions, which trigger grievances, how ABA Formal Opinion 512 (2024) changes the calculus for AI-assisted work, and how fee disputes escalate into discipline. Attendees leave with concrete practices for writing time entries, structuring client communications, and responding to billing complaints within firm procedures.