or advised his client that all proportions of the agreement needed
to be completed prior to court or else it may result in a negative
sentence. The attorney also informed the client to do so within
the week of the scheduled court date and to contact him once the
task was completed. The attorney did not receive
communication from his client prior to the court date, however;
the Judge announced that all requirements of the agreement
were satisfied.
According to ABA model rule 4.1 Truthfulness in statements to
to others and ABA model rule 3.3, Candor towards the tribunal,
may apply in this scenario. ABA model rule 4.1 states, " In the
course of representing a client a lawyer shall not knowingly:
make a false statement of material fact or law to a third person;
or fail to disclose a material fact to a third person when
disclosure is necessary to avoid assisting a criminal or
fraudulent act by a client, unless disclosure is prohibited by Rule
1:6" Model Rules of Professional Conduct r. 4.1 (ABA 2016).
ABA model rule 3.3 states, “ (a) a lawyer shall not knowingly:
(1) make a false statement of fact or law previously made to the
tribunal by the lawyer.” Model Rules of Professional Conduct r.
3.3 (ABA 2016).
The question is does the attorney have an ethical duty to inform
the court that his client may not have fulfilled all of said
requirements. In my opinion, the attorney does not know for a
fact whether or not his client was able to complete the driver’s
course in the allotted time. The rules state, “fact” the attorney
does not have proof of knowledge of whether or not the driver’s
In the above scenario, the last the attorney spoke with his client,
he was informed by the client, that he had not completed all
parts of the agreement given by the court. The attorney informed
standpoint of facts. We all know that law is based upon what you
can prove. However; I’m not sure if this does coincide with the
rules of attorneys but I would make sure that it’s on record that
the last the client was spoken to, he had not completed the
driver’s course, however, there was no factual evidence of
whether it was or was not completed at this time. I think it could
backfire on the attorney if he does not speak of his last
knowledge of the situation and may be considered withholding
information. From a biblical worldview my answer would not
change. If the attorney had factual information that the course
had not been completed then I do believe he would have a duty
to inform the court of that, but either way I would inform the
court of whatever knowledge I have.
Part 2
Should the death of a client be a factor on the scale in the duty
of confidentiality? Always, or only under certain circumstances?
If the latter, what should these circumstances be?
I don’t think the death of a client should be a factor in the duty
of confidentiality. If information is of relevance to a case or puts
one in harm that information should be disclosed upon receipt. It
should not take the death of the individual to disclose facts about
the person. If one has incriminating information or evidence that
puts another in harm's way that information should be relayed.
Why wait until the client has died to release pertinent
information.
course was completed. The attorney can not speak from a
