道德意见346

触发对潜在客户保密义务的必要要素

When 一个博彩app with whom a prospective client has consulted receives permission from the prospective client to speak with other counsel who the lawyer believes may be better suited to handle the case, any client information conveyed by the first lawyer during such 一个讨论 with the second lawyer should be treated by the second lawyer as confidential even though he never speaks directly with the prospective client.

适用的规则:

• 规则1.6(信息保密)
• 规则1.18(对潜在客户的责任)

调查

一个潜在的客户来找博彩appA，想和她谈谈接他的案子. 听完潜在客户的故事后, 博彩appA认为她不能提供帮助. 然而, 博彩appA认为换个博彩app更适合满足潜在客户的需求. Lawyer A asks the prospective client whether he would like her to call Lawyer B on his behalf to discuss the possibility of Lawyer B taking on the representation, 潜在客户说:“是的.博彩appA打电话给在另一家公司工作的博彩appB，解释了当事人的困境. 听了博彩appA的故事后, 博彩appB认定他有利益冲突，不能代表该人. 问题是博彩appB是否有义务保护博彩appa传达给他的信息.

D.C. 规则1.18, 于2007年2月生效, 界定博彩app对与其讨论代理可能性的当事人的义务, 但谁不成为博彩app的客户呢. 这条规则承认了一类新的人, “潜在客户,并指出，“即使没有客户-博彩app关系。, 一个博彩app 谁与潜在客户进行过讨论 不得使用或泄露在磋商中了解到的信息，但规则1允许的情况除外.6.(加重语气). 由于博彩appB从未与潜在客户进行过直接的“讨论”，因此本项调查存在不确定性.他只和A博彩app谈过.

讨论

我们用两种不同的理论来分析这个问题:(1)对潜在客户的保密义务存在于规则1中.因此不依赖于规则1中“潜在客户”的定义.18; and (2) the requirement of 一个讨论 在规则1中.因为博彩appA是潜在客户的代理人，所以18被满足了. 我们认为，在这两种理论下，B博彩app都负有保密义务.¹

1. 根据规则1对潜在客户保密.6

ABA模型规则1.第18条于2002年作为美国博彩app协会道德2000项目的一部分被采纳. D.C. 规则1.18(a)，与示范规则1相同.18(a), provides: “A person who discusses with 一个博彩app the possibility of forming a client-lawyer relationship with respect to a matter is a prospective client.” The confidentiality component of the rule (as distinct from its provision relating to conflicts of interest) was intended to codify the existing obligation of 一个博彩app under Model 规则1.给一个与博彩app有过初步磋商的人, 但他从未有过博彩app-客户关系.² 事实上，美国博彩app协会道德意见书编号. 90-358，在规则1通过前12年写的.18日状态:

Information imparted from a would-be client seeking legal representation is protected from revelation or use under Model 规则1.即使博彩app不承担潜在客户的代理或执行工作.

同样，对D .注释[9].C. 规则1.6 .承认D项下的这项义务.C. 规则1.6. 评论指出:

本规则之外的实体法原则决定客户-博彩app关系是否存在. Although most of the duties flowing from the client-lawyer relationship attach only after the client has requested the lawyer to render legal services and the lawyer has agreed to do so, the duty of confidentiality imposed by this rule attaches when the lawyer agrees to consider whether a client-lawyer relationship shall be established. 规则1规定了博彩app对潜在客户的其他职责.18. (强调说.)

另请参阅 《博彩app法》第15条第三次重述.

因为对不成为客户的人负有保密义务存在于规则1中.6和规则1.我们不需要完全依赖规则1的措辞.18，这需要一个人和博彩app之间的讨论. [9] D.C. 规则1.6 clarifies that the duty of confidentiality is triggered “when [a] lawyer agrees to consider whether a client-lawyer relationship shall be established.”³

因此，委员会得出结论, 第二名博彩app根据规则1负有保密义务.尽管有规则1的措辞.18, because the second lawyer presumably agreed to consider the possibility of a client-lawyer relationship when he spoke with the first lawyer.

2. 来自客户代理的通信

另外, 为了进一步分析，我们假设与潜在客户进行讨论的需求, 如规则1所述.必须符合第18(a)条的规定，才能履行保密义务. 在这种假设下, the requirement would be met if the first lawyer was considered to be the agent of the would-be client in speaking with the second lawyer.

根据博彩app与当事人之间的保密特权，评估与当事人沟通的保密性, 法院经常认识到，客户有时会通过代理人与他们的博彩app交谈.⁴ 这可以包括解释器, 家庭成员和商业代理, 在这种情况下, 代理人是客户信任的人，可以为通信保密. 这一概念在《博彩app法》第70(f)条的重述(第三)中得到了认可。. 在那个部分下, the Restatement addresses the circumstances under which a person can speak to 一个博彩app as a client’s agent and have the communication fall within the attorney-client privilege. 该节指出:

客户端的通信代理. A person is a confidential agent for communication if the person’s participation is reasonably necessary to facilitate the client’s communication with 一个博彩app or another privileged person and if the client reasonably believes that the person will hold the communication in confidence. Factors that may be relevant in determining whether a third person is an agent for communication include the customary relationship between the client and the asserted agent, 沟通的本质, and the client’s need for the third person’s presence to communicate effectively with the lawyer or to understand and act upon the lawyer’s advice.

The Restatement provides three illustrations: (1) A client is arrested and barred from speaking to his counsel and so asks his friend to convey a message to his lawyer; (2) a client does not speak English and uses an interpreter to speak to the lawyer; and (3) a client uses his personal secretary to provide information to his lawyer.

In 林德赛, 158 F.3d 1263, cert. 否认, 525 U.S. 996 (1998)， D.C. 圆形的cuit addressed whether Deputy White House Counsel Bruce Lindsay acted as President Clinton’s agent in speaking with the President’s private counsel regarding the president’s personal legal issues. The court did not decide whether the use of an agent as intermediary need be “reasonably necessary” in order to retain the privilege because it found that by adding his own legal analysis Mr. 林赛不能仅仅被视为一个中间人. 在这种情况下拒绝特权, the court reasoned that “the attorney-client privilege must be ‘strictly confined within the narrowest possible limits consistent with the logic of its principle.’” Id. 1281页(引用原文 在重新密封的箱子里, 676 F.2d 793, 807 n.44 (D.C. 圆形的. 1982))(引用 关于大陪审团调查, 599 F.2d 1224,1235 (3d 圆形的. 1979)).

我们认为，中介人原则适用于规则1所规定的博彩app的道德保密义务.第6条和规则1.也可以，但不必如此严格地限制其适用性. 区别的原因是在博彩app-当事人保密特权的背景下, 就像任何证据特权一样, 在法律诉讼中，当事人有重要的反补贴要求，要求提供可能相关的证据. 除非适用规则1下的例外.6 (c), (d)或(e), 博彩app的保密义务, 另一方面, 应广泛的解释，以确保满足客户的期望. 看到 杰弗里·C. 小风险,. 和W. 威廉•赫德 《博彩app法 §9.7 (3d版).)声明:

因为保密的道德义务范围更广[比博彩app-当事人特权], lawyers ordinarily should operate on the presumption that essentially no unfavorable client information may be disclosed without the client’s consent.

因为第一个博彩app是潜在客户的代理人, 第二名博彩app必须根据规则1将与第一名博彩app的讨论视为机密.18.

结论

When a prospective client consents to having 一个博彩app speak to a second lawyer on his behalf regarding the possibility of establishing an attorney-client relationship, 第二位博彩app根据规则1负有义务.6和1.18 .将沟通视为机密, 即使第二个博彩app从未直接与潜在客户交谈.

鉴于对第一博彩app收到的任何信息保密的重要性, it is advisable that the first lawyer disclose at the outset of the conversation with the second lawyer that the purpose of the discussion is to consider taking on a new case for someone, and to limit initial disclosures to the essential facts until it can be determined whether the second lawyer has a conflict of interest.

出版日期:2009年2月

1. 在任何一种理论下，保密义务的实质都受规则1的支配.6.
2. 模型规则1中有什么实质性的新内容.第18条规定了博彩app在利益冲突方面对潜在客户的责任. 在新规定出台之前, courts were left to determine whether one or more consultations created an attorney-client relationship or no relationship at all. 参见Derrickson v. 德里克森，541年.2d 149 (D.C. 1988), 在这个案件中, 在裁决取消一方博彩app资格的动议时, 要确定一次会诊是否需要一个小时左右, 发生在八年前，博彩app声称他不记得了, 建立了博彩app与客户的关系. 法院没有发现博彩app-客户关系，因此没有利益冲突.
3. 该表述是否也触发了规则1的利益冲突特征.18(c)是本意见未讨论的另一个问题.
4. The more common situation of non-lawyers who are assisting the lawyer serving as the lawyer’s agent in receiving confidential communications from a client is also a related but separate issue, 本意见未涉及.