Explore the ethical obligations for lawyers in negotiating agreements, focusing on civility and good faith in practice.
In the latest program in this popular series, Zach McGee discusses the California Attorney Guidelines of Civility and Professionalism, which reflect how the California State Bar believes lawyers should practice law, in the context of answering the question: Do lawyers have a duty to negotiate in good faith?
Using a fun hypothetical negotiation between lawyers, Zach illustrates the differences between the California State Bar’s aspirational guidance that lawyers negotiate in good faith and the black-letter law and legal ethics rules that require only that lawyers refrain from knowingly making false statements of material fact or law or otherwise engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation.
Rules covered include: ABA Model Rules 4.1 & 8.4; California Bus. and Prof. Code §§§ 6068 (d), 6106 & 6128(a); California Attorney Guidelines of Civility and Professionalism (2007).
Legal Technology & Education
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Senior Vice President, Business Affairs, Sony Pictures Entertainment
Zach McGee is a Senior Vice President of Business Affairs for Sony Pictures Entertainment in Los Angeles, where he negotiates distribution deals for feature films and television series. Before joining Sony Pictures, Zach held senior legal positions in-house at NBCUniversal and Miramax. Zach began his career as a law clerk for the Honorable Michael B. Mukasey, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. He also worked as an associate at Davis Polk in New York, New York, and Menlo Park, California. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College and Harvard Law School, and he earned his Master's in Business Administration from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Zach is also a successful entrepreneur and the founder of educational content companies within the legal field.
