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Abstract

Regulation of lawyer conduct in the State of Nebraska. Upon the Nebraska Supreme Court's adoption of the Nebraska Rules of Professional Conduct ("Nebraska Rules") through its ruling on In re Petition of the Nebraska State Bar Association to Adopt Rules of Professional Conduct Governing Attorneys, the state shed its distinct position as one of only six jurisdictions not yet utilizing some form of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct. The new system represents the first complete revision of the professional ethical standards to which Nebraska lawyers are held accountable since the adoption of the Code of Professional Responsibility ("Nebraska Code"), and embodies a few key departures from the former standards in both substance and structure. While it took the Nebraska Supreme Court more than sixteen months of open consideration and analysis to formulate and formally adopt the new rules once the initiative was raised by the Nebraska State Bar Association, their impact upon practicing lawyers within the state will be immediate and substantial with respect to many of the new provisions. Lawyers familiar with the Nebraska Code will recognize many of the substantive provisions of the former system, which have been carried forward to the Nebraska Rules relatively untouched. There are, however, substantive and structural changes reflected in the new rules which will require the attention of those practicing within this jurisdiction in order to maintain continued compliance with the ethical considerations inherent in the practice of law. What follows is a topical analysis of some of the key substantive changes reflected in the new rules, as well as an introduction to the organizational structure utilized in the new system.

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