Confidentiality and Attorney-Client Communications
Why Attend?
You mention to someone you just met at a cocktail party that you are an attorney. Without warning, she tells you the details of her son's DUI case and asks you for your advice . . . . Someone uses the "Contact Us" link on your firm's website to send you a message filled with confidential facts about his pending case . . . . Do these encounters create attorney-client relationships and are these communications privileged?
Client confidentiality is the hallmark of the attorney-client relationship. But while it ensures open communication between the attorney and the client, it can also be a minefield for the unwary: The attorney-client relationship can be easily formed and the duty of confidentiality may attach even to unsolicited communications and informal advice.
This concise and practical program explores the boundaries of the attorney-client privilege in a variety of contexts and circumstances to examine:
The circumstances under which you can unwittingly create an attorney-client relationship
The types of communications from potential clients that are not privileged
The kinds of client conduct that fall outside the protection of the attorney-client privilege
And more!
This interactive seminar allows you to submit your questions before and/or during the program for live discussion by the faculty. All registrants receive a set of downloadable course materials and free access to the archived online program later.
Need ethics credit? This seminar qualifies for 1.0 to 1.2 ethics credit hours, depending on state requirements, in MCLE jurisdictions that accredit live telephone seminars and/or webcasts.
Faculty
Wendy Patrick Mazzarella is a San Diego County Deputy District Attorney and Chair of the San Diego County Bar Association Ethics Committee. She is a member of the California State Bar Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct, has her own monthly ethics column in the San Diego Daily Transcript, and is widely published in the field of ethics. She lectures on ethics on a regular basis in California and around the United States, and has taught ethics internationally. She is a past Vice President of the SDCBA, a past Vice President and Programs Chair of the Lawyers Club of San Diego, and a former member of the San Diego Citywide Advisory Committee to the Office of Ethics and Integrity.
Michael L. Crowley is a solo practtioner in San Diego, specializing in civil rights actions and state and federal criminal defense cases for more than 20 years. He is a speaker on legal ethics issues and an Adjunct Professor of Law at Thomas Jefferson School of Law. He currently serves as President of the State Bar of California Criminal Defense Bar Association and Director of the Criminal Defense Bar Association of San Diego.
Total 60-minute hours of instruction: 1.0; total 50-minute hours: 1.2
Times
Eastern 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Central 12:00 noon - 1:00 pm
Mountain 11:00 am - 12:00 noon
Pacific & Arizona 10:00 am - 11:00 am
Alaska 9:00 am - 10:00 am
Hawaii 7:00 am - 8:00 am
