Arizona State Bar Association Committee on the Rules of Professional Conduct Topics: Confidentiality; Maintaining Client Files; Electronic Storage; Internet Summary of the Committee: “Lawyers providing an online file storage and retrieval system for client access of documents must take reasonable precautions to protect the security and confidentiality of client documents and information. Lawyers should be […]
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ISBA Professional Conduct Advisory Opinion No. 10-01 Topic: Law firm’s maintenance of confidential information while working with third party technology vendor Digest of the ISBA: “A law firm’s utilization of an off-site network administrator to assist in the operation of its law practice will not violate the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct regarding the confidentiality of client information […]
Lawyer Disciplinary Board – L.E.O. 2009-01 Approved/entered June 5 and 10, 2009 Topic: Metadada Conclusion of the Board: “The Board finds that there is a burden on an attorney to take reasonable steps to protect metadata in transmitted documents, and there is a burden on a lawyer receiving inadvertently provided metadata to consult with the […]
From the Article: “An interesting question was raised by a Government law department seeking to use LeapFILE to transfer files: does a party lose its right to claim attorney client privilege over a communication otherwise privileged by using a service like LeapFILE to transmit that communication? The rationale for breaking the privilege is that the […]
Professional Ethics Commission Topic: Transmission, retrieval and use of metadata embedded in documents Conclusion of the Commission: “1. Without authorization from a court, it is ethically impermissible for an attorney to seek to uncover metadata, embedded in an electronic document received from counsel for another party, in an effort to detect confidential information that should be […]
Ethics Committee Topic: Obligations of a Lawyer who Receives Confidential Information via Law Firm Website or Telephone Voicemail From the opinion “Standing alone, publication of a telephone number in a yellow pages advertisement cannot reasonably be construed as an invitation by the lawyer or firm to an individual to submit confidential information. The Committee believes the lawyer does […]
American Bar Association Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility Topic: Lawyer’s Obligations When Outsourcing Legal and Nonlegal Support Services Digest of the Committee: “A lawyer may outsource legal or nonlegal support services provided the lawyer remains ultimately responsible for rendering competent legal services to the client under Model Rule 1.1. In complying with […]
Topic: Web-based Management of Client Records Summary of the Opinion: “Opinion rules that client files may be stored on a website accessible by clients via the internet provided the confidentiality of all client information on the website is protected.” Rules: North Carolina Rules of Professional Conduct 1.16; 1.6 The full text is available at http://www.ncbar.com…
Professional Ethics Commission Topics: Client Confidences: Confidential firm data held electronically and handled by technicians for third-party vendors From the opinion: “[A]n attorney may utilize transcription and computer server backup services remote from both the lawyer’s physical office and the lawyer’s direct control or supervision without violating the attorney’s ethical obligation to maintain client confidentiality. […]