Topic: E-mail Encryption Summary of the Committee: “A lawyer’s use of unencrypted Internet e-mail to engage in confidential communications with his or her client does not violate Massachusetts Rule of Professional Conduct 1.6(a) in usual circumstances. Legal and technical hurdles to the interception of Internet e-mail give rise to a reasonable expectation on the part of […]
Topic: Plan to solicit bids by lawyers to perform legal services on internet website; advertising, solicitation, and participation in a referral plan; duties with regard to advertising fees, client confidentiality, unauthorized practice of law, and conflicts of interest Digest: “Lawyers may respond to an invitation to bid on legal projects through an internet website where […]
Opinion No. 302 of the District of Columbia Bar’s Legal Ethics Committee Topic: E-mail Encryption, Lawyers’ Use Of Internet-Based Web Pages From the Opinion: “As we have already discussed in Opinion 281 (1998), the transmission of information from a lawyer to a client by unencrypted electronic mail will not violate Rule 1.6 unless special circumstances […]
Professional Ethics of the Florida Bar Topic: Ethical obligations to protect client confidentiality in the use of Internet e-mail communications Summary of the Opinion: “An attorney may provide legal services over the Internet, through the attorney’s law firm, on matters not requiring in-person consultation or court appearances. All rules of professional conduct apply, including competence, […]
Topic: E-mail Encryption From the Opinion: “Whether e-mail communication is appropriate may depend on the setting in which the client will send and receive e-mail as well as the nature of the particular communication. Any communication with the client regarding this subject should be in plain language, as much as possible, and should discuss the various […]
[WARNING – CPR Opinion – provides advice under the Ohio Code of Professional Responsibility which is superseded by the Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct, eff. 2/1/2007.] Topic: “whether it is ethically proper under the Ohio Code of Professional Conduct for a lawyer to communicate with clients through electronic mail without encryption.” Syllabus of the Board: […]
Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility Topics: Protecting the Confidentiality of Unencrypted E-Mail Summary of the Committee: “A lawyer may transmit information relating to the representation of a client by unencrypted e-mail sent over the Internet without violating the Model Rules of Professional Conduct (1998) because the mode of transmission affords a reasonable […]
The Conclusion of the Article: “The information superhighway may be fraught with dangers for attorneys, particularly those who are apt to skirt the rules. Unwary lawyers may risk losing their license for inadvertently betraying client confidences, by soliciting clients on list serves and in chat rooms, or by passing over unclear ethical lines with a […]
Topic: E-mail Encryption From the Opinion: “[T]he attorney owes a duty to the client to advise of the risks of attorney/client communications through a technology about which many clients only have a rudimentary knowledge. This advice does not have to be technical in nature. The advice must be adequate to inform the client of the nature […]
Summary of the Article: “…On-Line Service Providers (OSP) provide Internet access while also allowing access to their own private content that is not available on the Internet to the public…The Federal Wiretap Act expressly provides that interception of a phone call — whether it is being transmitted over a land-based phone line, a cordless phone […]