Every representation involves "bad" facts and/or "bad" law – facts and law that run counter to a client's objectives. Ethical tensions and issues arise when a lawyer has to disclose bad facts or law to a court or administrative panel, or even to an adversary. At what point does the lawyer's duty as a member of the bar and officer of the court require disclosure even when it is adverse to a client's interest whom the lawyer must zealously represent? What are the limits to how a lawyer may represent an adverse fact or adverse law, even unpublished law, to an adversary?
Answering these difficulty questions may not only impact the outcome of a representation but potentially expose ethical sanction.
This program provides a practical guide to the ethical issues surrounding bad facts and bad law in client representations.
- Lawyer ethical duties to disclose bad facts and bad law
- Ethical issues surrounding the representation of adverse facts to tribunals and adversaries
- Duties to disclose adverse legal precedent to courts and administrative panels
- When is a lawyer required to disclose bad fact or law versus when they may disclose?
- Timing issues – at what stage should adverse facts and law be disclosed?
- Related issues of confidentiality and the attorney-client privilege
- Ex parte communications with the courts – what's ethically permissible, what's not?
DETAILS
Phone/Audio
Friday, May 21, 2021
1:00–2:00 PM
SPEAKERS
- Thomas E. Spahn, McGuireWoods LLP, McLean, VA
PRODUCED
June 23, 2020
APPROVED CREDIT
North Carolina: 1.00 MCLE Hour
Includes
1.00 Ethics/Professional Responsibility
PROGRAM PRICING
See pricing below.
