Q: Dear Ethics Lawyer, I have a question about the duty to report professional misconduct. I have learned that a lawyer (Bill) in our firm accidentally copied a lawyer from another firm with an email intended for a client, discussing the client’s matter and including confidential and privileged information. It happened when the autofill function of the email program filled in an email address from Bill’s contacts instead of the client’s email address which begins with similar letters. Bill did not catch the error before he hit send. Fortunately, the lawyer who received it was not adverse to this particular client and readily agreed to delete the email.
On the face of it, however, the communication violated Rule 1.6 (“a lawyer shall not reveal information relating to the representation of a client” without client consent), but it was a simple and understandable mistake that could happen to any of us. And what if the client does not want to report it because it doesn’t want the contents of the email to be shared with the authorities? Do I have a duty to report this to the disciplinary authorities in our state?
The twice-monthly “Dear Ethics Lawyer” column is part of a training regimen of the Legal Ethics Project, authored by Mark Hinderks, former managing partner and counsel to an AmLaw 200 firm. Read More
May 2026
May 1, 2026 Issue – Ethics of Witness Preparation
By Mark Hinderks on
Q: Dear Ethics Lawyer, I just took yet another deposition in which the otherwise successful, intelligent businessperson being deposed appeared to have the memory of an old Commodore 64—she said “I don’t know” or “I don’t remember” to just about every question. And for those few questions she answered, she rephrased absolutely everything. For example, I asked her if it was in the scope of her duties to review and approve contract terms such as the one at issue? She said, “I don’t know what you mean by review and approve, but if you are asking if I did sometimes read them, the answer is yes. But I don’t remember whether I did so in this instance.” She had obviously been coached by her counsel to within an inch of her life. And I’d bet money that when it comes to summary judgment briefing or trial, her memory will have been “refreshed” and then she will remember a version of the facts favorable to her employer.
I’m thinking I’m playing out of the wrong playbook when it comes to witness preparation. Is there any ethical guidance on what’s in bounds and out of bounds?