Legal Ethics and Malpractice

“Kaiser has the pedigree of a large firm – smart attorneys with outstanding credentials and vast legal experience – but it provides one-on-one attention like you would get from a small firm.” – The Legal 500

We represent clients in legal ethics and malpractice cases. There are two kinds of work we do in this area.

First, we help lawyers.

We help and advise lawyers with how to comply with their legal obligations and their professional lives. Our lawyers have represented lawyers who are departing law firms or where law firms are dissolving. We have advised lawyers who are forming new law firms. And we’ve helped lawyers understand what their ethical obligations are as they practice law.

Second, we help clients.

We believe that when a client has a dispute with her lawyer, that client deserves representation too. We represent clients in malpractice claims against their prior lawyers. If a lawyer makes a mistake, it shouldn’t be the client who pays the price.

Both kinds of cases require that we understand the specialized and evolving laws and regulations that govern the professional responsibility obligations of lawyers.

Matt Kaiser leads this practice group and is experienced with the unique challenges and law associated with this practice. Matt routinely advises lawyers, law firms, and legal services organizations about legal ethics issues. He has also served as an expert witness on questions of legal ethics and litigated legal malpractice cases, both defending law firms and bringing claims against them. Matt Kaiser is active locally and nationally in the professional responsibility community. He is an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches legal ethics. He is the former Chair of D.C.’s Board on Professional Responsibility, a nine-member board charged with administering DC’s attorney discipline system by the D.C. Court of Appeals. He also serves on committees relating to legal ethics with both the D.C. Bar and the American Bar Association.

Bill Zapf represents and counsels clients in cases where their lawyers have either committed malpractice or breached their fiduciary duties to the client. With deep experience as a civil litigator, he is adept at both negotiating favorable resolutions for clients who have been wronged or taking a case the distance in litigation. He has also represented lawyers accused of wrongdoing, both in disciplinary cases and government investigations.

Bill Pittard is an experienced civil litigator who has represented lawyers – and other professionals – in civil cases alleging that they have violated their duties to their clients.  And he has represented clients seeking justice for the harm caused by professionals who violated those duties.  As the former Acting General Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives, Bill has a particular experience advising on compliance with legal ethics responsibilities in the government setting.