A lawyer and her paralegal met with a client to discuss the client’s estate plan. After the meeting, but before the client left, the lawyer, the paralegal, and the client began discussing the prospects for the Chicago Cubs in the upcoming baseball season. A week later, the client’s daughter called the paralegal and began asking questions about the meeting with the client. The daughter wanted to know the client’s plan for distributing his estate. The paralegal explained that he could not disclose anything related to the representation of the client. The daughter then asked, “Well, is there anything you can tell me about what you discussed with Dad.” The paralegal responded, “Yes, we discussed the prospects for the Cubs this season.” Did the paralegal violate the confidentiality rules?
Explanation
Answer: C - No, because the prospects of the baseball team were not related to the representation of the client. Under the confidentiality rules, lawyers and employees of lawyers are prohibited from disclosing any information related to the representation of a client, unless the client consents, give implied authority, or an exception applies. Model Rule 1.6(a). Although it covers even remotely related information, the rule does not apply if the information is completely unrelated to the purpose of the representation. Generally, however, the prudent approach is not to disclose any information without client consent, implied authority, or an applicable exception. Answer C is the best choice because the discussion of the baseball team’s prospects was totally unrelated to the client’s estate plan. Answer A is not the best choice because, although it accurately states the rule, the answer does not consider whether the disclosure was related to the representation. Neither Answer B, nor Answer D is the best choice because the relationship between the client and the daughter is irrelevant in this fact scenario.
