Ethics-Governance: Article: http://www.wsba.org/media/publications/barnews/archives/2000/feb-00-ethics.htm

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http://www.wsba.org/media/publications/barnews/archives/2000/feb-00-ethics.htm Ethics and the Law:Communicating with Represented Persons by Barrie Althoff, WSBA Chief Disciplinary Counsel. Opinions expressed herein are the author's and are not official or unofficial WSBA positions. Students of the law and television viewers know that a lawyer generally may not communicate about the subject matter of a representation with a person who the lawyer knows is represented in the matter by another lawyer. Exceptions are made where the other lawyer authorizes the communication or the communication is otherwise authorized by law. This "no-contact" principle, now embodied in Rule 4.2 of Washington Rules of Professional Conduct (RPCs), attempts to balance several conflicting legal and societal values. Implementation of the rule, while often clear, demonstrates the adage that the "devil is in the details." This article looks at the rule and its predecessors and catalogues some of those devils, especially those arising when dealing with persons in organizations and in criminal law cases. The Rule and Its Background RPC 4.2 has a considerable heritage. Washington's first no-contact rule was Canon 9 of the American Bar Association's 1908 Canons of Ethics, adopted by Washington in 1917 (1917 Session Laws, Ch. 15, Sec. 20). Canon 9 stated that "A lawyer should not in any way communicate upon the subject of controversy with a party represented by counsel; much less should he undertake to negotiate or compromise the matter with him, but he should deal only with his counsel." In 1972, Washington replaced the Canons with the Code of Professional Responsibility, based on the ABA Model Code of Professional Responsibility. Full Article: http://www.wsba.org/media/publications/barnews/archives/2000/feb-00-ethics.htm


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