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Politics : Right Wing Extremist Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jlallen who wrote (13798)	8/7/2001 3:23:54 PM
From: Lazarus_Long	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 59480

Big Brother Is Watching You - And Your Lawyer Is Helping! or would have if the ABA had had its way. Fortunately the measure was dropped after a related measure was heavily defeated. JLA: I thought the client-attorney privilege was absolute and binding on the attorney (with the one exception mentioned in the article.) True? Lawyers Cancel Vote on Easing Restriction on Client Secrecy By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 12:33 p.m. ET CHICAGO (AP) -- Facing likely defeat in the governing body of the American Bar Association, leaders of a divisive effort to overhaul legal ethics rules canceled a vote on the most contentious issue Tuesday. The proposed change would have given lawyers much freer rein to report all manner of wrongdoing by their clients, including fraudulent business deals and financial crimes. Opponents said that is a dangerous violation of the rule of secrecy between lawyers and clients. ``It's unfortunate and it's a setback,'' said E. Norman Veasey, chief justice of the Delaware Supreme Court and a leader of the ABA committee that drafted the proposed rules. Veasey said he may try again at the ABA's next gathering in February. Veasey's group withdrew the proposal after losing overwhelmingly on a related issue. The policy-making House of Delegates voted 255-151 not to change the rules for reporting fraud or crime in which the client enlists the lawyer's help. ``They saw that, and they thought they were likely to lose'' on the larger question of whether lawyers should be able to squeal in cases in which the lawyer was not involved, said Robert Grey, a Richmond, Va., lawyer and an opponent of the rules change. Tuesday's action means the ABA's recommendations stay the same: A lawyer should try to talk a client out of committing a crime and withdraw if the client refuses. Forty-one states have laws that go further in encouraging or requiring lawyers to report wrongdoing. On Monday, the ABA approved one change that loosened ethics rules on when lawyers can report risky behavior by clients. The rule change potentially makes it easier for lawyers to stop the release of harmful chemicals or defective products. Until now, lawyers could only tattle on a client if the lawyer feared the client was about to kill or harm someone. The rule change approved Monday means lawyers can report things that may not be a crime, such as suicide, or that may cause harm a long time down the road, such as release of a harmful product. The ABA also voted Monday not to change its rules on whether lawyers should put all fees in writing up front. The ABA will continue to recommend written fee agreements. The ABA, the nation's largest lawyers' group, last revamped its ethics code in 1983. Also Tuesday, the policy-making House of Delegates may vote to oppose attempts to shield gun manufacturers from lawsuits claiming the companies sell unsafe products or create a public nuisance. Cities and individuals should have the right to pursue negligence claims, and states or the federal government should not give gun makers special immunity, an ABA report accompanying the recommendation said. More than 30 cities and counties have filed such suits. In response, 24 states passed laws giving gun makers varying levels of immunity from negligence lawsuits. Congress is considering a bill similar to the state immunity legislation. Attorney General John Ashcroft, who recently reaffirmed his support for core policies of the National Rifle Association, is scheduled to address the delegates shortly before debate on the gun measure. On the Net: ABA: abanet.org nytimes.com