David M. Majchrzak

David M. Majchrzak is a deputy general counsel and shareholder at Klinedinst PC. He is a go-to source for many lawyers and law firms and has been a co-author and co-editor of Ethics Quarterly since 2015.

Majchrzak has been lead counsel on several major matters, including chairing the ABA Working Group on the revision of Model Rule 5.5, which aims to facilitate the ability of lawyers to engage in multijurisdictional practice. He has also been the primary lawyer on multiple State Bar matters, where his clients have been the subject of negative press for issues such as fraud, trust account mishandling, unwaived conflicts, criminal convictions and more. Majchrzak has a solid record of having matters closed or dismissed after proceedings opened and has handled approximately 50 disciplinary matters in the past couple of years, with only two resulting in discipline.

He has also been lead counsel on litigation matters involving lawyers in multiple forums, including the U.S. Supreme Court, where cert was ultimately denied. These cases include complex cases based on professional negligence, malicious prosecution and fee disputes.

“Each of the cases I handle — whether involving a lawyer or a judge, and whether involving discipline or otherwise — are significant because they impact my clients’ opportunity to continue their work,” Majchrzak said. “By extension, then, these matters impact our community, including how they perceive the justice system.”

He continued: “An important aspect of every representation is to remember that we are dealing with humans. The incidents do not usually happen in isolation and so often, the biggest questions in the case are why things happened, rather than simply what happened.”

Majchrzak has identified trends in the field that need to be addressed, including the impediments to multijurisdictional practice. He notes that the work of the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers and the American Bar Association’s deep look into the issue indicate that change is near and that lawyers will have more flexibility in serving clients who are less bounded by geographic distinctions.