Description
“The rule of confidentiality is critical to the modem lawyer's role, as advisor to clients probably even more than as advocate. ... The difficult problem is where to draw the boundaries – how to define the kinds of secrets that a lawyer may not keep.” - Geoffrey C. Hazard Jr., An Historical Perspective on the Attorney-Client Privilege, 66 Cal. L. Rev. 1061 (1978).
One of the core duties of a lawyer is to maintain client confidences. Yet many attorneys do not fully understand when that duty starts and ends, and what information can or cannot be shared. For example:
• Does the duty cover information in the public record, or the disclosure of which would not harm the client?
• Must you maintain the confidentiality of an unsolicited email you receive from a prospective client?
• Can you ever use a former client’s information to the disadvantage of the former client?
Watch this program to learn the essentials of the lawyer’s duty of client confidentiality, and learn from an experienced practitioner and ethics advisor who other attendees call “very comprehensive and organized,” “articulate and interesting,” and “one of my favorite speakers on legal ethics.”
This program uses a series of hypotheticals and comprehensive written analyses to explore:
• the strength of the duty
• the source, timing, and content of information lawyers must keep confidential
• comparison with the attorney-client privilege
• when the confidentiality duty begins (in the context of unsolicited emails and interviews with prospective clients) and when the duty ends
• what steps lawyers must take to protect client confidences, especially in the context of electronic communications
See CLE State Accreditation for credit details.
If you are licensed in New York, this content is appropriate for both newly admitted and experienced New York attorneys. Although, this content is appropriate for all New York attorneys, newly admitted attorneys cannot earn CLE credit for the completion of the course when presented via on-demand.