What are your ethics obligations when your client gives you documents that the client may not be entitled to have? Model Rule 4.4(b), adopted in some form by most jurisdictions, provides some guidance. Applying it, together with other principles, a New Jersey appeals court, in an unpublished ruling, recently disqualified a firm from
Insured’s non-cooperation is confidential information, says TX ethics opinion
We’ve written before about what you can and cannot say when withdrawing from representation. Now a Texas bar ethics opinion adds a twist: what can you tell an insurance company that retains you to represent its insured, when the client won’t cooperate?
Lonely in the Lone Star state
A Texas lawyer had a quandary. An
Whoops! When do you have to tell a client about your error?
If you believe that you may have materially erred in a current client’s representation, your duty of communication under Rule 1.4 requires you to inform the client.
That’s the unsurprising conclusion that the ABA’s Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility reached in its latest opinion, issued April 17.
Of note, though, is that
Watch those hypotheticals, says ABA in new opinion on blogs, tweets, “public commentary”
We’ve written before about the breadth of the duty of confidentiality we owe to our clients, and how it even extends to matters that you think are safe to discuss because they are of “public record.” (See here and here.) Now comes the ABA’s latest on the subject of lawyer “public commentary” — Formal
Litigation privilege didn’t shield lawyer’s demand letter; defamation suit vs. Bill Cosby revived
One of Bill Cosby’s accusers can continue with her defamation suit, the California state court of appeals said in an opinion late last year, holding that the trial court erred when it used the state’s anti-SLAPP law to partially strike Janice Dickinson’s complaint against the entertainer. Dickinson had based one of her claims on statements
ABA explains when former-client info is “generally known” and can be used
Holiday parties are great times to socialize and network with colleagues. But the casual atmosphere and the sometimes-plentiful adult beverages can also tempt you to tell war stories that reveal too much about your past clients, potentially violating your continuing duty of confidentiality under Model Rule 1.9. But what’s “too much”? If something about
Lawyer’s “Dear eBay” letters come under litigation privilege, nixing defamation case
A lawyer representing an eBay seller in a dispute with the seller’s trading agents drew a defamation claim from the agents. But the case had a happy ending for the lawyer, as the New Jersey court of appeals held last month that two letters the lawyer wrote to eBay were protected by the Garden State’s
Loose lawyer lips give NYT reporter a scoop: confidentiality lessons
You’ve probably read about the New York Times reporter who says that he overheard lawyers for President Donald Trump discuss the ongoing Russia investigation at a Washington, D.C. restaurant, and then reported on the talk — which revealed details of a strategy debate, the alleged existence of documents “locked in a safe,” and other purported
Client confidentiality at the border: suit filed to block warrantless searches of e-devices
The ACLU and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have sued the Department of Homeland Security to block U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel from searching travelers’ electronic devices without warrants. This has implications for lawyers who cross in and out of the U.S. with phones and laptops containing confidential client information. The CBP’s policy, which the
U.S. border searches of e-devices: NYC bar advises on confidentiality duty
Travelling abroad for work? What should you do if a Customs and Border Patrol agent, claiming lawful authority, demands that you unlock your computer or thumb drive or cell phone — full of client confidential information — and hand it over to be searched as you cross the U.S. border?