Bankruptcy Litigation Support for Attorneys exists, as the
name indicates, to make life easier for attorneys. One way we do that is to
assure you about the potential ethical issues that may come to your mind about
services. These issues include client confidentiality, conflict of interest,
and compensation.
Client Confidentiality
As a previously practicing attorney, I am very familiar
with the Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct governing client confidentiality
as they pertain to attorneys (Rule 1.6), and how those rules extend to all who
work with the attorneys on client matters (Rule 5.3). I believe these rules
are particularly important to emphasize where the person assisting the
attorney is not a conventional employee but rather works for the attorney on a
contract basis, while working simultaneously for other attorneys. I am very
mindful that under these circumstances it is all the more important to keep an
absolute code of silence about my work on all client files. I am familiar with
the analogous ethical opinions about employees who leave one law firm to work
for another, and would be happy to discuss these or any other remaining
questions. When initially contacting me about a potential assignment, whether
by email or on the phone, please doe not reveal any confidential information
before we agree to the assignment. To show the seriousness with which I take
this issue, before I undertake to work with an attorney, I sign and provide to
the attorney an Ethics Agreement laying out my commitments in this area.
Conflict of Interest.
I maintain a database of clients on whose behalf I have
contracted with attorneys, which includes adverse parties of those clients.
Before accepting an assignment, I will do a conflict check against this list
and inform the attorney of any potential conflict. It is then the attorney’s
role to determine if there is in fact an ethical conflict, whether it is waivable and such (Rules 1.7, 1.8), but I reserve the right not to accept a
case if I believe a conflict of interest exists. When you contact me for an
assignment, please be prepared to inform me who the intended client and
adverse parties are (information which comes within my commitment of
confidentiality). And please feel free to raise any issues of conflict of
interest at any time. My Ethics Agreement speaks to this directly as well.
Compensation
The Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct forbids
fee-sharing with nonlawyers (Rule 5.4). The ethical opinions on this and the
predecessor Oregon Code of Professional Responsibility are quite strict about
the meaning of “fee-sharing,” clearly forbidding payment of nonlawyers on a
contingent basis. Although there is some ambiguity about what may or may not
be permitted, the safe route for attorneys is to compensate for BLS’s services
on an hourly basis with a predetermined schedule when the fees will be paid.
But as a former practicing attorney, I am very mindful of the financial
constraints that attorneys must sometimes work within, and so am quite willing
to be flexible in my terms, while not wavering from the ethical limitations.
Please raise any questions or suggestions about this when you contact me. And
again, these issues are addressed in my Ethics Agreement, along with the terms
in the Fee Agreement.
