ABSTRACT: In 2007, New Hampshire adopted NHRPC Rule 5.7, which applies to the provision of services that might reasonably be performed in conjunction with, and in substance are related to, the provision of legal services and that
Attorneys may be asked to assist with the wind-up and final disposition of a deceased or incapacitated sole practitioner’s law practice. This article provides guidelines for doing so in compliance with applicable Rules of Professional Conduct and Supreme Court Rules.
Ethics Committee Advisory Opinion #2018-19/01 by the NHBA Ethics Committee. This opinion was submitted for publication to the NHBA Board of Governors at its May 6, 2019 meeting.
This opinion was submitted for publication to the NHBA Board of Governors at its March 3, 2016 meeting.
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.
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.
May a New Hampshire attorney outsource litigation support services, such as document review, to a company located overseas, on a temporary or an ongoing basis? Must that attorney notify the client of the use of these services?
A lawyer representing a client who needs an interpreter should, ideally, engage the services of a qualified, impartial third party to ensure compliance with Rule 1.1, Rule 1.4 and Rule 1.6.
When drafting various estate planning documents, New Hampshire attorneys are frequently requested by their clients to act in one or more fiduciary roles. The drafting attorney may, at the request of the client, be inserted as a fiduciary in the document or documents being drafted by that attorney, provided that: (1) there has been adequate disclosure of information to the client, as required under Rule 1.4; and (2) the attorney makes a determination as to whether the personal interest of the attorney in being a fiduciary would require compliance with Rule 1.7(b) and that the attorney may continue to exercise independent professional judgment in recommending to the client the best choices for fiduciaries under Rule 2.1. In order to document compliance with these Rules, it would be the best practice for the attorney to confirm in writing the “informed consent” of the client to the selection of the drafting attorney as the named fiduciary.
It is ethically impermissible for an attorney to name that attorney, by default, or require the client to appoint the attorney as a fiduciary, in a document drafted by that attorney.
In the event the drafting attorney actively advertises and solicits clients to consider using the attorney as a nominated fiduciary in documents drafted by the attorney, the relationship that results from such advertisement and solicitation may constitute a “business transaction with the client” and thereby requires compliance with the more stringent Rule 1.8(a).