Advisory Opinion:
1941
Year Issued:
2000
RPC(s):
RPC 1.15; 4.2
Subject:
Neglect of a client
[Editor's Note: Ethics inquiry # 1941 concerns the RPC’s and neglect of a client.]
The Committee has reviewed your inquiry and determined the following:
The inquiring lawyer poses a question about his obligations to a former client who is now represented by new counsel, regarding the subject matter of new counsel’s representation. The inquiry focuses on whether the inquirer should contact the former client about the possible legal malpractice by the new lawyer committed during the resolution of the matter that was the subject of both lawyers’ representation of the same client.
The committee’s response to the inquiry is as follows: The inquirer no longer represents the client and all the matters that are the subject of the inquiry occurred after the new lawyer took over representation of the client. The client chose another lawyer and the inquirer appears to have met his obligations, as withdrawing counsel, by briefing new counsel about the case, including the claim for reasonable attorney’s fees.
Absent authorization by law, which the inquirer has not provided, the inquirer is precluded from making unilateral contact with the former client that forms the substance of the inquiry. Such unilateral contacts are not required by RPC 1.15. More importantly, such contact would undermine the attorney-client relationship that RPC 4.2 serves to protect.
The inquiry seems to presume that the new lawyer has probably committed malpractice and may not have consulted with, and been guided by, the decisions of the former client. Since the purview of the committee is limited to dealing with inquiries concerning the inquirer’s own conduct and not that of other lawyers, the committee may not respond to that matter.
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