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?

Q: Dear Ethics Lawyer, A state court judge is retiring after what seems like 105 years on the bench.  A retirement party is scheduled to occur 3 days before the judge’s retirement becomes effective. A group of lawyers on behalf of the local bar is collecting money to buy tickets for a European vacation to present to the judge at the retirement party. As far as the Model Rules are concerned, may we contribute?

Q: Dear Ethics Lawyer, I am a civil trial lawyer. I have a question about Rule 3.3 Candor to the Tribunal, which says that a lawyer shall not “knowingly” offer evidence that the lawyer knows to be false. On several occasions I have put a client witness on the stand whose testimony seems implausible in some regard, but I couldn’t prove it to be false, or have certainty that it was false. It makes me uncomfortable, but then again, sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction.  Where is the line here? When do I “know” something to be false rather than just have a doubt or question about it?

Q: Dear Ethics Lawyer, My good client Johnson recommended me to another prospect who has hired me for a major case. Can I properly give Johnson a nice gift certificate as a “thank you” for his recommendation?

Q: Dear Ethics Lawyer, You have been telling us for years that we have to check the version of the Model Rules in effect wherever we are admitted, or where a case or transaction is, where we are proposing to do various things, or where our client is, i.e., that the rules are often different in different states. I’ve got that.

But how do we know, when the rules are different between two states, which state’s law applies? If they are inconsistent in a way that means we can’t comply with both, are we simply up the proverbial creek without an ethical paddle? Is there any guidance out there?