From August 4 through 9, 2016, the American Bar Association ("ABA") will hold its annual meeting in San Francisco.  Among the scheduled events is the business meeting of the House of Delegates, the ABA's governing body.  The Delegates will consider a number of policy recommendations presented as reports from its standing committees.  One of these proposals comes from the ABA's Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility and, if adopted, would undermine many of the rights of lawyers, including the historic and absolute right of each lawyer to decide whom he will choose to represent. The proposal would add a new, vague, and expansive list of prohibitions to Rule 8.4 in the ABA's Model Rules of Professional Conduct governing "Misconduct."  The purpose of the "Misconduct" rule is supposedly to achieve the objective of "Maintaining the Integrity of the Profession," but this new proposal is all about...(Read Full Article)