Ethics-Governance: Article: http://www.wsba.org/media/publications/barnews/archives/may-98-using.htm

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http://www.wsba.org/media/publications/barnews/archives/may-98-using.htm Using E-mail, Asking for Trouble? E-mail, the Attorney-Client Privilege and RPC 1.6 By Mark D. Walters In today's legal environment, it's not uncommon to find e-mail addresses on attorneys' business cards, letterhead and Martindale-Hubbell listings. We attorneys are asking our existing and future clients to communicate with us via electronic mail. By doing so, however, are we asking for trouble by either waiving the attorney-client privilege or perhaps violating Rule 1.6 of the Rules of Professional Conduct?1 The answer appears to be, "probably not, but it depends." Internet Security Concerns: The Dilemma There is concern among technophiles and cyber lawyers that there is not a reasonable expectation of confidentiality or privacy via unencrypted e-mail because the Internet is not secure.2 As explained by Todd H. Flaming, a Chicago attorney and secretary of the Illinois State Bar Association's Standing Committee on Legal Technology, the reasons for this perception and the concerns raised are valid: In reality, an assessment of how secure the Internet is depends on the way it is used. To discuss what security risks exist requires an understanding of how a particular type of message is transmitted over the Internet. E-mail messages sent over the Internet reach their destinations because a series of computers copy each message and send it to the next one until it reaches its destination. That is the source of the potential security problems. To understand this, consider an alternative known as "modeming." I tell my computer to call your computer using a standard phone line and send a document to it. Full Article: http://www.wsba.org/media/publications/barnews/archives/may-98-using.htm


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