NH Ethics Committee

#2016-17/01 Law Firm Obligations in Sharing Fees and Ownership Control with Retired Lawyers

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This opinion was submitted for publication to the NHBA Board of Governors at its April 20, 2017 meeting.

Ethical Considerations and the Retention of Client Files

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Ethics Committee Practical Ethics Article By the NHBA Ethics Committee Presented to the NHBA Board of Governors at its March 18, 1999 meeting Facing every lawyer and law practice is the accumulation of documents, growth of open files, and storage of closed files. As the closet doors and file cabinets become harder and harder to … Read more

#2014-15/05 The Lawyer’s Authority to Disclose Confidential Client Information to Protect a Client from Elder Abuse or Other Threats of Substantial Bodily Harm

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Can an Attorney Disclose Confidential Client Information, Over a Client’s Objection, to Protect the Client from Elder Abuse or Other Threats of Substantial Bodily Injury?

# 2012-13/05 Social Media Contact with Witnesses in the Course of Litigation

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The Rules of Professional Conduct do not forbid use of social media to investigate a non-party witness. However, the lawyer must follow the same rules which would apply in other contexts, including the rules which impose duties of truthfulness, fairness, and respect for the rights of third parties. The lawyer must take care to understand both the value and the risk of using social media sites, as their ease of access on the internet is accompanied by a risk of unintended or misleading communications with the witness. The Committee notes a split of authority on the issue of whether a lawyer may send a social media request which discloses the lawyer’s name – but not the lawyer’s identity and role in pending litigation – to a witness who might not recognize the name and who might otherwise deny the request. The Committee finds that such a request is improper because it omits material information. The likely purpose is to deceive the witness into accepting the request and providing information which the witness would not provide if the full identity and role of the lawyer were known.

#2012-13/04 The Use of Cloud Computing in the Practice of Law

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A New Hampshire lawyer who uses cloud computing must be certain that such use complies with the Rules of Professional Conduct, including, Rule 1.8(c), 1.0(e), 1.1, 1.6, 1.15, 2.1, and 5.3.