Categories : Legal Ethics
The Duty to Communicate — A Two Way Street
Rule of Professional Conduct 1.4, effective now for a year, has made explicit some duties never stated in former rule 3-500. The new portion of the rule calls for a conversation between lawyer and client about the tripartite relationship among: (1) the client’s objectives; (2) the means the lawyer has available to achieve them; and (3) the resources—financial as well as personal—the client can devote.