{"id":156,"date":"2021-04-12T12:34:59","date_gmt":"2021-04-12T12:34:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/professional-liability\/?p=156"},"modified":"2025-04-09T16:57:43","modified_gmt":"2025-04-09T16:57:43","slug":"in-person-client-meetings-and-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/law-firm-defense\/2021\/04\/12\/in-person-client-meetings-and-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"In-Person Client Meetings and COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"

A <\/span>fellow attorney<\/span> just circulated a poll to his friends asking, \u201c<\/span>A<\/span>re you<\/span> starting to <\/span>meet<\/span> <\/span>with your clients in person?\u201d<\/span> If you are <\/span>restarting in-person meetings <\/span>with your clients, consider whether you are in a jurisdiction that <\/span>mandates <\/span>contact tracing and whether that conflicts with <\/span>your <\/span>duty to maintain a client\u2019s confidential information confidential. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Every jurisdiction has adopted some form of <\/span>ABA Model <\/strong><\/span>Rule 1.6<\/span>, <\/span>Confidentiality of Information<\/span>. <\/span><\/strong>It<\/span> <\/span>provides <\/span>in part <\/span>that:<\/span><\/p>\n

(a) A lawyer shall not reveal information relating to the representation of a client unless the client gives informed consent, the disclosure is impliedly authorized in order to carry out the representation or the disclosure is permitted by paragraph (b).<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>mere <\/span>fact that a person <\/span>has consulted an attorney <\/span>can <\/span>be in itself confidential information. One obvious example is <\/span>a fam<\/span>ous celebrity <\/span>visiting <\/span>a divorce attorney. <\/span><\/p>\n

The problematic situation arises <\/span>if you learn that the client has COVID<\/span> after an in-person meeting.<\/span> <\/span>Alternatively, w<\/span>hat if <\/span>you <\/span>learn after the meeting that you have<\/span> <\/span>COVID<\/span>? In jurisdictions that require contact tracing disclosure, or even <\/span>for <\/span>public policy and health considerations, you may need to disclose your client\u2019s identity to contact tracing authorities. <\/span>As an attorney, you should take a moment to learn the <\/span>contact tracing and public health reporting laws<\/span> in your jurisdiction<\/span>. <\/span>For example, <\/span>r<\/span>ight now, I understand that there is a tracing program in Massachusetts, but disclosure is voluntary, not legally required. <\/span>This may change.<\/span><\/p>\n

The easy answer to this dilemma is to discuss the issue <\/span>b<\/span>efore meeting a client<\/span> in person<\/span><\/strong>. Model Rule 1.6 permits the disclosure of otherwise confidential client information with informed consent, so you <\/span>should inform the client about contact tracing so the client can decide whether to meet in person or remotely. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

The hard answer arises if you have not had this conversation. <\/span>Absent informed consent from a client to disclose their identity to contract tracers, Model Rule 1.6 does permit <\/span>\u2013 but does not require \u2013 <\/span>disclosure to comply with a statutory requirement for contact tracing:<\/span><\/p>\n

(b) A lawyer may reveal information relating to the representation of a client to the extent the lawyer reasonably believes necessary:<\/span> . . . <\/span> (6) to comply with other law or a court order<\/span> . . . <\/span><\/p>\n

While the ethical rules may permit you to comply with a statutory requirement to disclose your client\u2019s identity in a COVID tracing situation, such a unilateral decision to make disclosure may not be good for your attorney-client business relationship. <\/span><\/p>\n

In conclusion, you should seriously consider discussing the possibility of contact tracing disclosure obligations before meeting with a client in-person.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A fellow attorney just circulated a poll to his friends asking, \u201cAre you starting to meet with your clients in person?\u201d If you are restarting in-person meetings with your clients, consider whether you are in a jurisdiction that mandates contact tracing and whether that conflicts with your duty to maintain a client\u2019s confidential information confidential. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":197,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIn-Person Client Meetings and COVID-19 - Law Firm Defense<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/law-firm-defense\/2021\/04\/12\/in-person-client-meetings-and-covid-19\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In-Person Client Meetings and COVID-19 - Law Firm Defense\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A fellow attorney just circulated a poll to his friends asking, \u201cAre you starting to meet with your clients in person?\u201d If you are restarting in-person meetings with your clients, consider whether you are in a jurisdiction that mandates contact tracing and whether that conflicts with your duty to maintain a client\u2019s confidential information confidential. 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