As a client, you want to be sure that not only is the advice confidential, but that the lawyer has worked with people facing similar charges. There is plenty to consider during the admissions process to help you determine if a lawyer is right for your case and, ultimately, your future. If there is one duty that virtually every lawyer has rooted in their psyche, it is the duty to protect their clients` confidential information. Regardless of this basic instinct, there are many myths about duty. In a very unscientific method called “asking around,” the OSB`s Office of the General Counsel has compiled the following list of the top 10 myths about the duty of confidentiality and the truth behind those myths. You should take the time to think about what you want to discuss before the consultation takes place. This also includes taking notes about your legal situation so you don`t forget anything. Add information about others who may be involved in your case, such as witnesses. If you do not have a good feeling during the consultation, you can leave.
You will only have to pay the fee for the appointment if the lawyer does not offer free consultations. If the consultation was free, there is really no risk of meeting them, even if you are not satisfied. Solicitor-client privilege is an essential feature of the relationship between a lawyer and his or her clients. The privilege protects written and oral communications from disclosure in litigation, as well as disclosure under the Oregon Public Records Act and similar laws. The purpose of this privilege is to provide clients with confidential legal advice and to promote openness between lawyers and clients. It facilitates compliance by allowing clients to seek advice on their legal obligations without fear that their communications with legal counsel will one day be used against them. Lawyers may not disclose your communications with them unless you give us your informed consent or the disclosure is necessary to carry out your legal work. ORPC 1.6 Myth #5: You should always reveal customer trust when it comes to information about child abuse. Lawyers are mandatory whistleblowers of child abuse.
Thus, if they have reason to believe that abuse has occurred and that they have had contact with the perpetrator or victim of the abuse, they must report the case to the authorities, unless one of the exceptions applies. If the abuse information is subject to solicitor-client privilege or was obtained in the course of representing a client and would be detrimental to the client if disclosed, the lawyer is exempt from reporting. As a result, lawyers are generally not required and are not allowed to report child abuse if it means disclosing confidential client information. Each state differs in terms of the confidentiality of the information a client is supposed to give to a lawyer during a consultation. Every lawyer has an ethical guideline that they must follow to be in good standing with the Bar Association. There are several ways in which a criminal defense lawyer is able to conduct a counseling process. Many criminal defense lawyers offer free counsel. Some may charge a fee that may be charged for the performance. As lawyers, we focus first and foremost on the wishes of our clients.
However, we are often asked to help other people. To protect our clients, we use a “conflict check” to see if a person seeking our help is in legal conflict with one of our clients or someone we have spoken to as a potential client. If this is the case, we cannot legally advise or represent that person. Every detail a lawyer can use to defend their client will come into play. This is an important factor in explaining why the consultation process is essential. Consultations allow the client to provide all the information to the lawyer and are intended to be a confidential and very useful process for both the client and the lawyer. You can take a look at their criminal defense law firm on this page here. Here you can see their reviews that support the fact that they are a very reputable criminal law firm. Barkemeyer Law Firm treats client secrecy with great importance and must be taken into account if you are sued! There are rare situations where we may need to break privacy, see below. Myth #2: You don`t have a duty of secrecy to potential customers.
Oregon RPC 1.18 establishes the duties of a lawyer towards potential clients. If a person discusses with a lawyer the possibility of hiring a lawyer, he or she is prohibited from using or disclosing information obtained during the consultation, unless the information has become generally known or the rules otherwise permit. The fact that the potential client is a detrimental party to a current client and that the information provided would help the current client does not give lawyers a license to share the information. So why don`t we go further now and answer your important question, “Are legal consultations confidential?” Later in this article, we`ll go over some important information to help you determine how to handle your next legal advice. In addition, we hope to eliminate some of the worries that may be associated with it. These are some of the basic rules that govern the professional secrecy of the OSU. University staff can and should inquire about privilege with the University`s Legal Counsel for Legal Matters to ensure that they can take advantage of this strong protection of the lawyer-client relationship. So if I call and a conflict is found or my legal problem is not covered by the Commons Law Center, am I not lucky? If you have legal issues and are unsure of next steps, contact our commons Law Center attorneys by calling (503) 850-0811 or using this link to arrange a free 15-minute consultation. Lawyers may not represent persons with legal interests vis-à-vis current or former clients. RFCO 1.7, 1.9. Our duty to protect the interests of each client continues once our work for them is complete.
ORCP 1.9 This rule avoids the need for former clients to plead against a lawyer who has special knowledge of them in their previous lawyer-client relationship. Lawyers cannot use your confidential communications with them against you. Myth #4: As long as you call it “hypothetical” and don`t mention your customer`s name, you can openly discuss your customer`s case with others. The collegiality and apparent anonymity of email distribution lists and other online forums can put lawyers in a dangerously false sense of security when it comes to protecting client trust. It`s important to remember that your colleagues can also be your opponents. Therefore, lawyers should be careful when seeking advice from others, including the Bar Association. While lawyers may disclose confidential information to the Bar Association to the extent necessary to obtain ethical advice, lawyers should consider that the Bar Association is subject to public records legislation. If you have a consultation with a lawyer, the information is and should be confidential. Law firms such as the Louisiana law firm Barkemeyer treat client information with the utmost care. In addition, they see their moral and ethical standards as a decisive advantage for their law firm in Louisiana. Myth #6: If you learn that your client committed a crime or fraud while representing them, you have a duty to disclose that information. Lawyers are prohibited from advising or assisting their clients in the event of illegal or fraudulent conduct.
Oregon RPC 1.2 (c). In addition, paragraph (b) of CPP 3.3 requires lawyers to take appropriate corrective action if they know that a person intends to engage or has engaged in criminal or fraudulent conduct in a legal proceeding. However, neither rule requires lawyers to report their clients if they have engaged in illegal or fraudulent conduct. In fact, paragraph 3.3(c) of the CPP explicitly states that the duty to take reasonable corrective action does not require the disclosure of information protected by CPP 1.6. Lawyers and their employees are subject to confidentiality and solicitor-client privilege. This also applies to initial consultations, even if a potential client is not yet our actual client. This essentially means that our firm cannot and will not disclose what was said during the consultation. Thus, anyone else would only find out that the potential client is talking to a lawyer or what the potential client has said when the potential client discloses what was said during the consultation.
We cannot provide legal advice if we determine that there is a conflict of interest at any time in our cooperation. ORCP 1.7 In these cases, lawyers may only share the information absolutely necessary to break confidentiality. ORCP 1.6(b). Sometimes potential customers are concerned about the confidentiality of advice. During the consultations, the potential client is concerned about whether what is said will reach his employer or whether he will reach third parties. But the potential client should not worry at all, because the first free consultation is completely confidential. Usually, yes. A lawyer may or may disclose confidential information against the client`s will only in the following situations: Below you will find answers to some frequently asked questions about our ethical obligations, and we share them in the hope that they will allow you to seek legal assistance. Our ethical obligations extend to our employees, including our duty to keep your communications with us confidential. We always try to avoid complicated “legal language” and communicate clearly with non-lawyers.
Whether we meet with you for a 15-minute phone call or represent you comprehensively, you are our priority. Myth #9: When a customer files a beard complaint against you, you`re allowed to reveal everything you know about the customer, and then some.
