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October 30th, 2019
Frankfurt Kurnit’s Second Annual Litigation Ethics Summit - FKKS Ethics Game Show
To cap off the Second Annual FKKS Litigation Ethics Summit, Nicole Hyland (Partner), and Tyler Maulsby (Counsel) challenged some brave audience members to participate in a contest of ethical wits. In a rousing game show format, our contestants grappled with tricky hypotheticals and our panel explained best approaches to these ethical quandaries. The Game Show covered a wide range of topics and elicited a lively debate among the panelists, contestants and audience members. The Game Show also served as a reminder that the New York Rules of Professional Conduct (“RPCs”) are not the only source of guidance for attorney conduct. When faced with an ethical dilemma, attorneys many need to look beyond the rules and ethics opinions to statutes, case law, and court rules.
Secret recordings.
Is it permissible for a lawyer to secretly record a third party to gather evidence for a possible claim? Tyler walked the audience through the various ethics opinions in New York that address whether a lawyer may secretly record a third party and, if so, under what circumstances. The ethics opinions reflect a range of views, but the general consensus is that a lawyer may engage in secret recording under certain circumstances. For example, the American Bar Association (ABA) and the New York County Lawyer’s Association (NYCLA) opinions state that a lawyer may engage in secret recording so long as doing so is legal and does not violate a specific ethics rule. The New York City Bar Association, however, has taken a more restrictive approach and condones secret recording only if it is in furtherance of a “generally accepted public good” such as investigating a civil rights violation. The takeaway is that, before secretly recording a conversation, a lawyer should weigh carefully the purpose of the recording and whether there are alternative avenues for memorializing the conversation.
Lawyers moving between law firms.
Lawyers are moving between firms with increasing frequency. When a lawyer decides to make a move, she must navigate a tricky web of legal and ethical duties. Nicole walked the audience through the preferred order of operations and the potential pitfalls if a lawyer gets it wrong. For instance, as Nicole explained, a lawyer looking to change firms should generally notify her current firm before discussing the move with her clients. Also, before the lawyer takes any files from her old firm, she should obtain written consent from the client. The lawyer should also make sure not to recruit any associates or other staff members while still employed as a partner at the prior firm, since partners still owe fiduciary obligations to their current firm. Of course, these restrictions may, at times, give way to practical concerns, but a lawyer should think carefully about the best way to balance these considerations.
Whistle-blowing lawyers.
Finally, Tyler addressed whether a lawyer may disclose a corporate client’s malfeasance, particularly if it involves public health or safety. Under RPC 1.6, the lawyer is generally required to maintain the confidentiality of her client’s troubling behavior, even if breaching that confidence might serve a broader public good. Tyler explained that RPC 1.6 contains several permissive exceptions to confidentiality, which allow (but do not require) lawyers to disclose confidential information under limited circumstances. Some examples are “to prevent reasonably certain death or substantial bodily harm” or “to prevent the client from committing a crime.” The lawyer should keep in mind, however, that RPC 1.13 (which governs the representation of organizational clients) may require her to escalate any concerns up through the reporting structure of the organization, potentially to the highest authority of the corporation, before deciding to disclose confidential information.
Other Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Alerts
Third Annual Litigation Ethics Summit
On November 13, 2020, Frankfurt Kurnit held its Third Annual Litigation Ethics Summit, consisting of three hour-long panels, earning the attendees three ethics CLE credits in New York and California. Read more.
November 19 2020
A Primer On New York’s COVID-19 Executive Orders and What They Mean for Your Practice
This past week, New York has taken a number of steps to restrict movement in and around the State in an effort to contain the COVID-19 crisis. Governor Andrew Cuomo has issued executive orders and the chief judges of the state and federal courts have issued administrative orders that have had a sweeping impact on the legal industry as well as the business community at large. Read more.
March 22 2020
ABA Opinion Limits Restrictions on Departing Partners
There’s important news for law firm leaders who have recently revised partnership and shareholder agreements to restrict partner departures. In ABA Formal Opinion 489, the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility spells out new limits on notice periods, on rules governing communications with clients, and on so-called “ownership” of clients. Here’s what firm managers need to know to stay on the right side of the ethics rules. Read more.
February 6 2020
