Legal Profession Outline
I. DUTIES TO CLIENT
A. Fiduciary Duty
1. Attorney Must place the client’s interests above their own for representation and must treat the client fairly.
B. Duty of Loyalty
1. Attorney must pursue clients objectives unfettered by conflicting responsibilities or interests
C. Duty of Diligence
1. Attorney must pursue clients interests without undue delay
D. Duty of Competence
1. Attorney must give client competent representation
a) legal knowledge, skill thoroughness and preparation
E. Duty of Confidentiality from the 6th Amendment Right to Effective Counsel
1. Duty of Confidentiality versus Attorney-Client Privilege
a) The Attorney Client privilege is a shield in evidence which protects all documents created for the client during discovery....if a third party is present the privilege is lost.
(1) Work-Product Doctrine
(a) this extends to memorializations of conversations with 3rd parties, but not the actual conversations themselves. Anything produced/recorded in the process of and bearing on the legal representation of a client is protected (e.g. interviews, artifacts, documents, mental impressions...meaning ideas/thoughts, etc)
(b) POLICY: We want attorneys to record their impressions so they can have more sophisticated representation, therefore we protect it.
(c) BUT, if your opponent can show a substantial need for the material AND they show that they cannot get it in any other way....then you have to hand it over.
(d) The attorney-client privilege is thus stronger than work product (because WP can be broken if the other side really needs it)
(e) Mental Impressions => these are called “core-work product”. Core WP is ONLY discoverable under EXTRAORDINARY NEED for Federal cases. (higher standard)......IN CALIFORNIA CORE WORK PRODUCT IS NEVER DISCOVERABLE.
b) The Duty of Confidentiality is an Ethical Duty which obligates an attorney not to reveal ANY information (or say something that leads to the discovery of such
A. Fiduciary Duty
1. Attorney Must place the client’s interests above their own for representation and must treat the client fairly.
B. Duty of Loyalty
1. Attorney must pursue clients objectives unfettered by conflicting responsibilities or interests
C. Duty of Diligence
1. Attorney must pursue clients interests without undue delay
D. Duty of Competence
1. Attorney must give client competent representation
a) legal knowledge, skill thoroughness and preparation
E. Duty of Confidentiality from the 6th Amendment Right to Effective Counsel
1. Duty of Confidentiality versus Attorney-Client Privilege
a) The Attorney Client privilege is a shield in evidence which protects all documents created for the client during discovery....if a third party is present the privilege is lost.
(1) Work-Product Doctrine
(a) this extends to memorializations of conversations with 3rd parties, but not the actual conversations themselves. Anything produced/recorded in the process of and bearing on the legal representation of a client is protected (e.g. interviews, artifacts, documents, mental impressions...meaning ideas/thoughts, etc)
(b) POLICY: We want attorneys to record their impressions so they can have more sophisticated representation, therefore we protect it.
(c) BUT, if your opponent can show a substantial need for the material AND they show that they cannot get it in any other way....then you have to hand it over.
(d) The attorney-client privilege is thus stronger than work product (because WP can be broken if the other side really needs it)
(e) Mental Impressions => these are called “core-work product”. Core WP is ONLY discoverable under EXTRAORDINARY NEED for Federal cases. (higher standard)......IN CALIFORNIA CORE WORK PRODUCT IS NEVER DISCOVERABLE.
b) The Duty of Confidentiality is an Ethical Duty which obligates an attorney not to reveal ANY information (or say something that leads to the discovery of such