I. How Email Travels After an email message is composed and the author hits the “send” button, an email goes through several steps, known as “layers”, before leaving the author’s computer. See Erinn Phillips, How Does Email Travel? (Aug. 1, 2012), http://www.atlanticwebworks.com/blog/how-does-email-travel/. The email is cut into many tiny […]
JUR. AUTHORITY POSITION DETAILS ABA American Bar Association Standing Committee On Ethics And Professional Responsibility, Formal Opinion 99-413 & 11-459 NO Opinion 99-413: Unencrypted e-mail sent over the Internet are not unethical because “transmission affords a reasonable expectation of […]
Professional Ethics Commission Topic: The Ethics of Cloud Computing and Storage Question presented to the Commission: “Is it ethical for Maine attorneys to use cloud computing and storage for client matters?” Short answer of the Commission: “Yes, assuming safeguards are in place to ensure that the attorney’s use of this technology does not result in […]
A publication of the American Bar Association From the Article: “Encryption is a topic that most attorneys don’t want to touch with a ten-foot pole, but it is becoming a more and more important part of security. Encryption is an electronic process to protect data. It has now reached the point where all attorneys […]
From the Article: “Accordingly, because email is outmoded, inherently unsecure, and there are now more secure forms of electronic communication available, I predict that within two years or so, lawyers in most jurisdictions will choose to, or be required to, communicate and collaborate with clients using encrypted communications. And, the platform of choice will be encrypted […]
Professor Nathan M Crystal, Technology and Confidentiality Topics of the presentation (1) public use of technology: California Ethics Committee Formal Opinion 2010-179 ABA Formal Opinion 99-413 South Carolina Rule of Professional Conduct 1.6 (2) metadata in document transmission […]
From the Article: “The bottom line is that lawyers can use cloud computing without encrypting the files before storing them in the cloud. That being said, the determination of whether to upload unencrypted client data into the cloud will vary from one law practice to another and is contingent upon the type of data that […]
Maine Professional Ethics Commission Topic: Clients Confidence: communications with clients by unencrypted e-mail Conclusion of the Commission: “The Commission concludes that, as a general matter and subject to appropriate safeguards, an attorney may utilize unencrypted e-mail without violating the attorney’s ethical obligation to maintain client confidentiality.” Rules: Code of Professional Responsibility of the Maine Bar […]
Topic: Electronic storage and access of client files From the Opinion: “We are reluctant to render an [sic] specific interpretation of RPC 1.6 or impose a requirement that is tied to a specific understanding of technology that may very well be obsolete tomorrow. Thus, for instance, we do not read RPC 1.6 or Opinion 515 as imposing a […]
Arizona State Bar Association Committee on the Rules of Professional Conduct Topic: Electronic storage; Confidentiality From the Opinion: “ER’s 1.6 and 1.1 require that an attorney act competently to safeguard client information and confidences. It is not unethical to store such electronic information on computer systems whether or not those same systems are used to connect […]