Pursuing Client Advocacy Within the Bounds of Civility and Professional Standards: What’s Zeal Got to Do With It? (Presented by the Federal Bar Association’s Professional Development Committee, Ethics Subcommittee)

Denise M. Quinterri | Law Office of Denise M. Quinterri, PLLC

Denise M. Quinterri focuses her practice on legal ethics and professional responsibility. She formerly served as Bar Counsel for the State Bar of Arizona.

• Education & Credentials

Ms. Quinterri earned her J.D., cum laude, from the University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law (2000). She received her B.A. in Sociology, summa cum laude, from the University of Arizona (1997), where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and earned Dean’s Honor Lists recognition, ABWA scholarships, and the Yoshino public interest award.

• Recognition & Leadership

Ms. Quinterri has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America© for Ethics and Professional Responsibility and is rated AV® Preeminent™ by Martindale-Hubbell.

• Professional Involvement

She enjoys presenting at the occasional CLE seminar or conference and is an active member of the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers.

• Experience

After leaving the Bar she worked for David D. Dodge, a highly respected ethics attorney, with whom she continued to collaborate until his retirement. Ms. Quinterri represents lawyers in State Bar proceedings (“Bar complaints”) and applicants in the Character and Fitness process. She also provides expert opinion letters.

Ms. Quinterri is highly experienced in lawyer discipline, having personally handled well over 500 bar complaints. She has represented over 300 applicants to the State Bar of Arizona in the Character and Fitness process. She understands various aspects of the practice, having worked at a large law firm, a small to mid-size law firm, as a solo attorney, and for a non-profit, quasi-governmental organization.

SESSION 1 – Pursuing Client Advocacy Within the Bounds of Civility and Professional Standards: What’s Zeal Got to Do With It? | 2:00pm – 3:00pm

In a recent Missouri case, a lawyer failed to appear for a civil trial with a mutually agreed upon date. Judgment was entered against his client. The lawyer appealed, arguing that it was an abuse of discretion for the trial court to have proceeded in his absence without at least a courtesy call (by either the Court or the opposing counsel). Although the appellate court upheld the judgment, the Court agreed that a courtesy call would have been “the better practice.” In support for that statement, the Court cited a section of the Preamble to the Rules of Professional Conduct: “A lawyer has the obligation to ‘zealously’ protect and pursue his or her client’s legitimate interests within the bounds of the law ‘while maintaining a professional, courteous, and civil attitude toward all persons involved in the legal system.’” Are there circumstances in which there is an ethical duty to remind your opposing counsel of a court date? To what extent may your duty to your client conflict with your professional obligations? These concepts will be explored in this seminar.