The Ethics of Communications with Non-Parties (Presented by the Federal Bar Association Professional Development Committee)

Marc A. Lapp, Special Representative | Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel

Marc A. Lapp is a Special Representative with Missouri’s Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel and regularly practices before the Disciplinary Hearing Committee and the Supreme Court of Missouri. In addition, Marc is the Director of Quality Assurance, Ethics, and Training for Nationwide Insurance Trial Division.

Dane Ciolino, A. R. Christovich Distinguished Professor of Law | Loyola University New Orleans College of Law

Dane S. Ciolino is a law professor and lawyer in New Orleans, Louisiana, where his teaching interests include Professional Responsibility, Evidence, Advocacy, and Criminal Law. He is the editor of the weblog Louisiana Legal Ethics and the book Louisiana Legal Ethics: Standards and Commentary (2022).

Professor Ciolino graduated cum laude from Rhodes College in 1985, and magna cum laude from Tulane Law School in 1988, where he was inducted into Order of the Coif and selected as Editor in Chief of the Tulane Law Review. After graduation, he clerked for the United States District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, and practiced law at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP in New York City, and Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann LLC, in New Orleans.

Since joining the faculty at Loyola, Professor Ciolino has served as reporter to the Louisiana State Bar Association Ethics 2000 Committee, as chairperson of a Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board Hearing Committee, as chairperson of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana Lawyer Disciplinary Committee, as executive administrator and general counsel for the City of New Orleans Ethics Review Board, and as a member of various Louisiana State Bar Association committees (including the Professionalism Committee, the Lawyer & Judicial Codes of Conduct Committee, and the Ethics Advisory Service Committee).

Professor Ciolino engages in a limited law practice and in law-related consulting, principally in the areas of legal ethics, lawyer discipline, judicial discipline, governmental ethics, and federal criminal law. His practice includes handling disciplinary matters before the Louisiana Supreme Court, the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board, and the Louisiana Judiciary Commission, legal malpractice cases, lawyer disqualification matters, and legal fee disputes. He also consults and serves as an expert witness in the fields of legal ethics, legal fees, and the standards of care and conduct governing lawyers.

Moderator, Alexander Saunders, Counsel | Irwin Fritchie Urquhart Moore & Daniels, LLC

Alex Saunders has broad trial and appellate experience in both state and federal courts, primarily in Louisiana, as well as experience in mediation and arbitration. He has managed several cases for trial. He focuses on third-party casualty claims, construction litigation, toxic tort exposure claims, complex commercial litigation, as well as firstparty coverage litigation. Alex is a an active member of a number of professional organizations, teaches as an adjunct professor of law at LSU, and serves on Louisiana’s Disciplinary Board Hearing Committee.

• The first portion will be these premier ethics experts identify and explain the rules necessary to form a foundation for the discussion surrounding the ethics of speaking with non-parties (such as witnesses to trial, deposition, etc). | 2:00pm – 2:30pm
• The second portion will cover common scenarios/examples/hypotheticals concerning situations in which many attorneys find themselves communicating with non-parties, and the panelists will walk through how best to handle and approach these scenarios in accordance with the ethical rules and best practices | 2:30pm – 3:00pm