BarbriSFCourseDetails
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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    On-Demand

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

  • work Practice Area

    Ethics

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Tuesday, June 2, 2020

  • schedule Time

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  • timer Program Length

    90 minutes

Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.

$197.00
CLE
ALL

This CLE course will prepare attorneys to comply with the fundamental rule that a lawyer must not reveal information relating to a client's representation unless the client has given informed consent when the attorney must work in unusual conditions, such as when forced to relocate on short notice to a non-office or home environment, to work remotely, and in an open-office configuration.

Faculty

A. Neil Hartzell
Partner
Freeman Mathis and Gary, LLP

Mr. Hartzell has extensive experience in a broad range of matters, representing both plaintiffs and defendants in complex civil litigation including commercial disputes, real estate, securities litigation and investigations, directors and officers, business torts, trade secrets, IP, insurance coverage, class actions, contract actions, aviation, and workplace and employment related matters.

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David Lefkowitz
Principal
The Lefkowitz Firm LLC, LLC

Mr. Lefkowitz represents individuals and companies (corporations, LLCs, PCs, etc.) in their claims for legal malpractice (legal negligence) and similar claims such as breach of fiduciary duty; trustee misconduct; executor misconduct and ethical misconduct by attorneys and other fiduciaries. He also represents attorneys and law firms with regard to risk management, law firm dissolutions and attorney’s fee disputes.

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Description

All jurisdictions have some version of the ABA's Model Rule 1.6, which provides that a lawyer "shall not reveal information relating to the representation of a client." The duty of confidentiality is much broader than the attorney-client privilege.

An attorney must not disclose any information communicated in confidence by the client nor any information related to the representation, regardless of the source. There is no exception in the rule for "publicly available" or "generally available" information. However, some states exclude from the definition of "confidential information" information that is known to a sizeable percentage of people in the local community, trade, or field.

Attorneys, therefore, have conformed their conduct and outfitted their regular workplaces to meet these obligations and make compliance second nature. From time to time, however, attorneys and their clients find themselves unexpectedly and by necessity working from a new location, using unfamiliar tools, in temporary workspaces not optimized for confidentiality and under acute personal and professional stress.

Listen as the panel discusses ways lawyers working remotely, at home, or in open-offices can inadvertently disclose confidential information and ways to mitigate those risks.

Outline

  1. Duty of confidentiality
    • Individual clients
    • Organizational clients
    • Over-inclusion on email and conferencing
    • Prospective clients
    • Continuation of the duty after the attorney-client relationship ends
  2. Confidentiality vs. attorney-client privilege vs. work product
    • Authority
    • Coverage
    • Operation
    • Responsibility
    • Duration
    • Improper release/breach
  3. What constitutes a breach of confidentiality
    • Are all breaches of confidentiality equal?
    • Protecting the attorney-client privilege in emails, videoconferencing, texting

Benefits

The panel will review these and other essential matters:

  • Model Rule 1.6, ABA Formal Opinions 479 and 480, and state law comparisons
  • Reasonable precautions to prevent information from getting into the hands of unintended recipients
  • What level of competency in cybersecurity is required by Model Rule 1.6
  • The duty to protect information that could lead to the discovery of confidential information
  • How the concepts of confidentiality, attorney-client privilege, and work product are related but different