CENTER FOR PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY
COMMISSION ON EVALUATION OF THE RULES
OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT
MINUTES
Saturday, August 4, 2001
Chicago, IllinoisCommission Members Present:
E. Norman Veasey, Chair
Lawrence J. Fox
Albert C. Harvey
Geoffrey C. Hazard, Jr.
Patrick E. Higginbotham
W. Loeber Landau
Margaret C. Love
Susan R. Martyn
David T. McLaughlin
Richard E. Mulroy
Lucian T. Pera
Henry Ramsey, Jr.
Laurie D. ZelonLiaison:
Burnele V. Powell, Center for Professional Responsibility
Seth Rosner, Center for Professional ResponsibilityReporters:
Nancy J. Moore
Carl A. PierceStaff:
Jeanne P. Gray
Charlotte K. Stretch
Susan M. CampbellThe Commission met on Saturday, August 4, from 1 to 5 p.m.
I. Minutes
The Commission approved the minutes of the March 16 - 17 meeting.
II. Multijurisdictional Practice
Chief Justice Veasey appointed a subcommittee of Susan Martyn, Nancy Moore, Lucian Pera and Seth Roster to work with the Multijurisdictional Practice Commission on issues related to Rules 5.5 and 8.5.
III. Rule 1.6 Comment [13]
The Commission approved the proposed change in response to comments from the American College of Trial Lawyers. It modifies the Comments to explicitly address the lawyer's responsibility when faced with a subpoena or order from a governmental entity other than a court, such as legislative or regulatory body.
IV. Rules 1.11, 1.12 and 1.18
The Commission approved the proposed amendments to Comment [7] of Rule 1.11, Comment [5] of Rule 1.12 and Comment [8] of Rule 1.18. These changes conform with a change already made to the Rule 1.10 Comment.
V. Rule 4.4
The Commission agreed to support the amendment proposed by House of Delegates Member Michael Prigoff. The proposal adds "from opposing counsel or parties" to the obligation to notify the sender of an inadvertently sent communication.
VI. Comment
The Commission decided to use "Comment" rather than "Commentary" as the title of the Comment section of the Rules.
VII. Rule 5.6
The Commission did not approve the proposal to modify paragraph (b) to include settlement of client controversy with the government. While it thought the proposal to be generally good, it agreed as a policy matter to not present the House of Delegates with many amendments immediately before the debate began.
VIII. Strategic Alliances
Don Hilliker, Chair of the Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility, and Ethics Counsel George Kuhlman joined the meeting to discuss strategic alliance issues. The Ethics Committee is withdrawing its amendments to Rules 1.7 and 7.2 and wants to work with the Commission on a joint proposal on this issue. The New York State Bar Association also decided not to go forward with its proposal at this time. The Commission discussed the issues briefly and determined that a subcommittee should work with members of the Ethics Committee.
IX. Rule 1.8(j)
Delegate Peter Langrock joined the meeting to discuss his amendment to delete Rule 1.8(j) regarding sex with clients. Larry Fox will be joining Mr. Langrock's amendment.
X. Rule 1.11
Susan Martyn reported on a compromise reached on the applicability of Rules 1.9 and 1.11 with the Administrative Law Section and others that had opposed the Commission's position.
XI. Amendments
Amendments have been filed to change the positions taken by the Commission on confidentiality (in Rule 1.6(b)), writing (in Rules 1.5, 1.7 and 1.9) and screening (in Rule 1.10). The Commission decided not to create "fall-back" or compromise positions on those Rules.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan M. Campbell
Charlotte K. Stretch