Real Life Professional & Ethical Dilemmas in Consumer Bankruptcies: A Guide For Case Preparation And Client Interaction, What Is Appropriate Under The Model Rules And Accompanying Advisory Opinions

(Initially Presented to the Southeastern Bankruptcy Law Institute - Atlanta, Georgia - March 21-23, 2013)

By: The Honorable Cynthia F. Grimes Norton[i], United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Western District of Missouri

Introduction:

“If you're betwixt and between, trust the one with red hair.” O.R. Melling, The Hunter’s Moon

On matters of ethics, bankruptcy lawyers often find themselves “betwixt and between” – betwixt the seemingly immutable principal of “attorney-client privilege” and the bedrock bankruptcy principle of “disclosure, disclosure, disclosure….” -- between the need to represent . . .

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