Table of Contents
Can a lawyer tell you if someone is their client?
Lawyers may not reveal oral or written communications with clients that clients reasonably expect to remain private. In other words, the lawyer can never divulge the client’s secrets without the client’s permission, unless some kind of exception (see below) applies.
What happens when an attorney lies?
“Lawyers who lie do not end well. They get in trouble with the State Bar, often losing their license, frequently winding up bankrupt, family life in shambles and sometimes going to jail,” she observes. “An attorney is also considered as an officer of the court, taking an oath to support the laws of our country.
Can a lawyer place his duties to the client above confidentiality?
The lawyer is torn between his loyalties to the client and his duties as an officer of the court. In the context of the civil client, however, Rule 3.3, Ala. R. Prof. C., and its Comment clearly require the lawyer to place his duties as an officer of the court above his duties of loyalty and confidentiality to the client.
What happens if a lawyer knows their client is guilty?
Thus if a lawyer knows their client is guilty, one solution is to not produce any defence evidence (as this could lead to perjury or misleading the court), but to leave the prosecution to make out their case.
What are a lawyer’s ethical obligations to a criminal client?
Regardless of whether the lawyer is representing a civil client or a criminal client, the lawyer’s ethical obligations remain the same. Where a client informs counsel of his intent to commit perjury, a lawyer’s first duty is to attempt to dissuade the client from committing perjury.
Can a client refuse to reveal false evidence to a lawyer?
Furthermore, unless it is clearly understood that the lawyer will act upon the duty to disclose the existence of false evidence, the client can simply reject the lawyer’s advice to reveal the false evidence and insist that the lawyer keep silent. Thus the client could in effect coerce the lawyer into being a party to fraud on the court.