Law Firm Technology and Ethics: The Lawyer’s Duty of Technological Competence Under Rules 1.1 and 1.6

Each and every new piece of technology has associated risks that must be weighed against the benefits, but few of us ever stop to think about it. Some of the risks in our practice are simple and easy to understand; the risks associated with the use of technology in the practice of law are not as simple and, what is worse, they change almost daily.

Rules of Professional Conduct 1.1 (competence in the practice of law) and 1.6 (safeguarding client secrets) now require lawyers to confront and balance the risks and rewards of technology in our work. As the Rules make clear, it is not necessary for lawyers to guarantee the security of their technology; and that’s a good thing because it is impossible for any of us to guarantee the security of our technology. However, as practitioners we are required to take reasonable steps to secure our office technology and our clients’ information. This program will discuss what measures to take to secure office technology and clients’ information. This seminar will also review rule changes and discuss how the changes have played out over the last six years.

Cancellation Policy: Cancellation/transfer requests will be honored until 5:00 p.m. the day preceding the seminar. You will, however, be charged $40 if you cancel or transfer your registration to a different seminar after the link to the materials has been e-mailed by Virginia CLE.

Full refunds or transfers are available up to two days after a webcast in the unlikely event that you experience technical difficulties.

Inclement Weather Policy and Updates.

COURSE SCHEDULE (March 30) (Eastern Time)

• Sign-in for live seminar attendees in Charlottesville begins at 11:30 a.m.
• Q&A will be handled via chat room for Webcast attendees.
• Q&A will be handled via e-mail for telephone seminar attendees.

COURSE SCHEDULE (April 8) (Eastern Time)

• Q&A will be handled via chat room for Webcast attendees.
• Q&A will be handled via e-mail for telephone seminar attendees.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Zachary A. Kitts, K&G Law Group / Fairfax

Zachary Kitts is a partner at K&G Law Group, PLLC, where he concentrates his practice in the areas of qui tam litigation and other complex civil litigation matters. 

Mr. Kitts has been involved in a number of precedent-setting VFATA cases, including Commonwealth of Virginia ex rel. Siddiqui v. Navy Federal, Commonwealth ex rel. FX Analytics v. Bank of New York Mellon, and Lewis v. City of Alexandria.  He is widely recognized as an expert on state FCA legislation, and he has testified before numerous state legislatures about Virginia’s experience with the VFATA.  He was also the primary architect of the comprehensive 2011 amendments to the VFATA.

Mr. Kitts has prosecuted a wide variety of qui tam claims in state and federal courts across the country against health care providers, defense contractors, financial institutions, and others. To date, his cases have returned more than $104 million to the public fisc.

Mr. Kitts is also a member of the Virginia State Bar’s standing committee on professionalism and is a member of the Virginia Bar’s Mandatory Professionalism Course faculty.  He has been included in Virginia Super Lawyers magazine every year since 2011, and has been included in Best Lawyers in America every year since 2015; in 2019 he was named Qui Tam Lawyer of the year by Best Lawyers in America. He received his B.A. from George Mason University in 1998 and his J.D. from American University’s Washington College of Law in 2001.