Q: Dear Ethics Lawyer, I met my life partner in law school and am now happily married. We both practice law and we enjoy sharing with each other the experiences and challenges of our professional lives. Today, I began work on a type of matter that my spouse has handled before, so I’d like to explain the situation to them confidentially (we’ve agreed we would never share with others anything we discuss between us) and ask for their input on some aspects of it. Are there issues with this? What if we talk only in hypotheticals, without identifying parties or the specific matter?
A: Congratulations on your great relationship and your commitment to communication to keep it that way. But there are professional limitations to sharing with your life partner. There is no spousal (or other) exception to Model Rule 1.6’s protection of confidential information (all “information relating to the representation of a client”). In addition, any disclosure of privileged information of a client to your spouse, as a person not within the privilege umbrella for that client, could possibly constitute a waiver of privilege. If discovered, these facts could create serious adverse consequences for you and your client(s). Even if not discovered, this places you in violation of rules you’ve committed to follow.
You also ask about the use of hypotheticals. There is no prohibition in the rules about discussion of legal issues in the abstract, disconnected from information relating to actual client representation. But be very careful proceeding in this manner, so that the context of the discussion does not (expressly or implicitly) reveal the identity or information of a client.