At Point of Law, Ted mistakenly assumed that I had worked for a Michigan law firm, and that the law firm violated ethical rules.  I've replied to his mention of the post at Overlawyered, and am sending a trackback to the post at Point of Law so any readers can see my response, just in case Ted declines to post my comment at Point of Law. While I don't believe he was questioning my ethics, some readers may believe he was and thus I feel as though I must respond.  My comments are as follows:

Ted, since you don't have comments enabled at POL, I'd appreciate it if you'd post the following for me:

The law firm in question was in Texas, not in Michigan.  I've never worked for a Michigan law firm.

To save you the trouble, the applicable rule is 3.04:

"A lawyer shall not:

(b) falsify evidence, counsel or assist a witness to testify falsely, or pay, offer to pay, or acquiesce in the offer or payment of compensation to a witness or other entity contingent upon the content of the testimony of the witness or the outcome of the case."

I am not privy to the exact circumstances surrounding the fee drops, but I was present during one conference call in which the expert on his own offered to drop his fee because of a smaller-than-expected settlement.  As I read 3.04, it's not a violation for the attorney to accept it; paragraph (b) isn't mentioned in the comments.  The acceptance of the lower fee also doesn't appear to violate Texas Ethics Report 458: http://www.law.uh.edu/Libraries/ethics/Opinions/401-500/O458.html

Ted, even if you disagree with my interpretation of the rules, I hope you'll acknowledge that any ethical failure was my employer's, and not mine.

Update: Ted has made a minor revision to his post at Point of Law, but I still take exception with it for the following reasons:

1: He says that my disclosure was "accidental" – which it was not. 

2: He still seems to argue that there was an ethical violation because an attorney accepted a reduction in an invoice from an expert witness.  Since this expert did not enter into a contingent-fee agreement with the attorney, there was no ethical violation on the part of the attorney.

3: It's a minor quibble, but Ted hasn't approved the Trackback I sent to his post.  Granted, it's his blog and therefore his choice not to approve it.  However, I think it's in poor taste to not approve a trackback sent from a person who you mention by name if the trackback doesn't include any profanity or otherwise offensive material.