In today’s WSJ, there is an article about investment industry fiduciaries. Apparently, the Department of Labor is moving forward in requiring brokers and investment advisers to avoid conflicts of interests.
And, the SEC, under the Dodd-Frank financial regulation law of 2010 can develop different standards for brokers and advisers. The latter group must avoid conflicts, but the former group must only disclose a conflict.
What a concept! In other words, if a stock broker’s company is underwriting the stock, the broker need only disclose the conflict. Try that in other professions, especially lawyers!
If we have a conflict of interest, we must do more than disclose. We must excuse ourselves. Yes, there can be a waiver, but that is not looked on with favor.
Of course, we follow the almighty dollar. The investment community is outraged that the DOL should believe it unlawful to proceed with a conflict of interest … We’ll see how this plays out.
The real reason that clients refer their law firms is because they are satisfied with the service they receive. Good client service is responsible for about 46+% of all referrals.
Learn important skills from Ed as he talks about how a lawyer can best allocate his time to handle current issues as well as prepare himself for the future.
The ABA Journal has opened the nomination process for its annual Blawg 100, a list of the 100 best law-focused blogs on the Web.
The publication is requesting short submissions from people who have found that my blog, LawBiz Blog (www.lawbizblog.com) has provided valuable and timely information in my area, law practice management.
If you have enjoyed my blog postings over the past year (and prior years), I hope you will act as one of my “friends of court.” The process is quick and easy, and will take no more than a few moments of your time.
Simply click on the link below and fill out the short form. The deadline for submission is 7 p.m. ET on Friday, September 7th.
