(SPANISH) Puerto Rico Ethics: A Comprehensive Guide to the New Rules of Professional Conduct Part Two

This course will only be presented in Spanish.

* Pending Approval

Part Two builds on the foundational review of the Puerto Rico Rules of Professional Conduct presented in Part One and examines how the Rules operate when several professional duties arise at the same time. The course moves from a rule-by-rule introduction to practical application. Attorneys will work through common situations involving client intake, technological competence, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, law firm screening, client communication, withdrawal, candor to tribunals, communications with represented persons, supervision, remote practice, advertising, professional independence, and the reporting of misconduct.

The program focuses on the decisions attorneys must make before an ethical issue becomes disciplinary. Particular attention is given to identifying the Rules implicated by a single set of facts, documenting informed consent, protecting confidential information when using technology, supervising attorneys and nonlawyer personnel, responding to client instructions that conflict with professional duties, and determining when disclosure, corrective action, or withdrawal may be required.

The course also examines how the new Rules change the analysis in areas that were previously governed by the 1970 Canons. Practical hypotheticals throughout the program show how attorneys can recognize ethical issues early and apply the new framework in day-to-day practice.

This course is intended for Puerto Rico attorneys in private practice, government, corporate and in-house legal departments, nonprofit organizations, and solo and small firm practices. It is designed for attorneys with a basic familiarity with the new Rules of Professional Conduct who want a more practical, advanced understanding of how the Rules interact in actual legal practice.

Learning Objectives:

1. Analyze ethical problems that implicate several Rules of Professional Conduct at the same time.
2. Apply the duties of competence, technological competence, confidentiality, and supervision when attorneys use electronic systems, cloud services, artificial intelligence tools, and outside vendors.
3. Evaluate concurrent and former client conflicts, determine when informed consent may be available, and identify when screening may prevent firmwide disqualification.
4. Distinguish decisions reserved to the client from decisions concerning the means of representation and identify circumstances in which an attorney must refuse a client instruction.
5. Apply the duties of candor, fairness, confidentiality, and withdrawal when an attorney discovers false evidence, inaccurate statements, or other problems during litigation.
6. Identify the responsibilities of partners, supervising attorneys, subordinate attorneys, and nonlawyer personnel when ethical issues arise within a law office.
7. Evaluate ethical issues involving remote practice, multijurisdictional work, professional independence, advertising, solicitation, and modern law firm operations.
8. Determine when professional misconduct must be reported and how the reporting obligation interacts with confidentiality and other duties owed to clients.