Legal Ethics
In the mid-1990s, Craig was asked by his former firm to become a loss prevention partner and member of its Ethics Committee. Thus began a 25+ year run as a legal ethics lawyer and recognized expert in the field. He now brings this expertise to clients of Woods Law.
Along the way, he became a nationally recognized expert in legal ethics, serving on the professional responsibility committees of several notable bar organizations, including the American College of Trial Lawyers, as well as the ABA, FBA and OSBA. Recently he served a stint on the Law 360 editorial advisory board for legal ethics. He regularly writes about, and speaks on, a wide variety of legal ethics topics, including presentations made given at the Chemicals Roundtable (an annual gathering of industry GCs in Washington, DC), the OSBA’s Annual Environmental Law Section Meeting, and the Squire Patton Boggs annual CLE program for clients.
Craig’s recent ethics clients include litigation funders seeking to do business in Ohio, lawyers who have encountered COVID-related UPL issues in Ohio and elsewhere, and other law firms seeking advice or second opinions on conflicts of interest or other thorny ethics challenges. He also has a number of expert witness engagements in cases alleging lawyer negligence or misconduct, including fee disputes.
Craig knows that being an effective legal ethics lawyer involves more than just telling other lawyers what they can’t do under applicable rules and opinions. It includes finding and suggesting ethical ways in which attorneys can meet their obligations to clients and the profession. Where he is asked to provide expert testimony on ethics issues or attorney liability, Craig combines thorough preparation and deep knowledge of the applicable law with practical judgment that comes from four decades of law practice at the highest level.