Lucian Pera

Practice Areas

Litigation, Appellate, Legal Ethics

Career

Lucian Pera’s practice focuses on legal ethics work, media law, and commercial litigation. Lucian is one of the nation’s leading legal ethics practitioners. For more than 30 years, Lucian has represented lawyers, law firms, clients, and those who do business with lawyers and law firms, on the widest possible array of issues relating to legal ethics and the regulation of lawyers. His practice is national in scope.

The ABA Center for Professional Responsibility recently bestowed on him the prestigious Michael Franck Award, their highest award for work in the field of ethics and professional responsibility over his career. For twenty years, in addition to his work as a practicing ethics lawyer, he has been a leader at the highest levels of the ABA on revisions to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct and other important lawyer conduct issues.

Lucian was the youngest member of the ABA “Ethics 2000” Commission that rewrote the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct. He recently served three years as chair of the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility. He speaks and writes extensively on the ethical and regulatory aspects of the rapidly-changing legal services market. He is founding chair of the Practising Law Institute’s annual full-day program, “The Ethics of NewLaw.”

Known for his command of legal ethics issues, Lucian represents clients in matters ranging from lawyer discipline defense to lawyer malpractice defense to expert witness work. He also represents and advises clients — including lawyers and their firms and other businesses — on a wide range of potential business ventures, especially ventures and business models new to the legal services market. He advises on the ethical and lawful use of innovative marketing techniques, as well as lawyer and law firm relationships with vendors of all kinds, from marketers, to outsourcing vendors, to litigation funders. He has helped lawyers and law firms establish and maintain compliance while providing non-legal ancillary services to clients and others.

Since the earliest days of his practice, Lucian has also represented media outlets in matters ranging from claims for defamation or invasion of privacy to access to courtrooms, public records, and meetings of government bodies.

Lucian’s wide-ranging civil litigation practice includes a variety of commercial, personal injury, and intellectual property litigation, as well as numerous state and federal appeals.

Professional Memberships

American Bar Association “Ethics 2000” Commission, ABA Treasurer, ABA Board of Governors and Executive Committee; President of the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers; Media Law Resource Center; Past-President of the Tennessee Bar Association