Read Illinois Rule of Professional Conduct 4.4 Respect for Rights of Third Persons
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Rule 4.4 Respect for Rights of Third Persons
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Opinion 18-01 |
Communication With Represented Person | Confidentiality | E-mail
A lawyer may not use tracking software in emails or other electronic communications with other lawyers or clients in the course of representing a client without first obtaining the informed consent of each recipient to the use of such software. It is not reasonable to require that lawyers acquire special devices or programs to detect or defeat tracking software.
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Opinion 09-01 |
Communication With Corporate Employees | Communication With Represented Person | Communication With Unrepresented Person
A lawyer may communicate with a current constituent of a represented organization about the subject-matter of the representation without the consent of the organization’s counsel only when the constituent does not (i) supervise, direct or regularly consult with the organization’s lawyer concerning the matter; (ii) have authority to obligate the organization with respect to the matter; or (iii) have acts or omissions in connection with the matter that may be imputed to the organization for purposes of civil or criminal liability. Consent of the organization’s lawyer is not required for communication with former constituents about the matter of the representation. If the constituent has his or her own counsel, however, that counsel must consent to the communication.
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Opinion 01-06 |
Communication With Adverse Person | Frivolous Arguments
While a lawyer may zealously represent the interests of a client, a lawyer must be truthful in dealings with adversaries and third parties and cannot take actions designed merely to harass or burden such other parties.
Rule 4.4(a)
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Opinion 12-18 |
Conflict of Interest | Prospective Clients
An attorney may not encourage a client to engage in the practice known as “taint shopping,” whereby a prospective client meets with an attorney for the sole purpose of disqualifying the attorney from representing an opponent. An attorney who participates in an initial consultation with a prospective client, but who is not retained by the prospective client, is not prohibited from later representing a client with materially adverse interests in the same or in a substantially related matter if: (a) before the consultation, the attorney obtained the prospective client’s informed consent of any conflict that might arise from the information disclosed by the prospective client; (b) even in the absence of an informed consent, the attorney did not receive information that could be significantly harmful if used in the matter; or (c) the attorney can establish that the prospective client revealed information to the attorney with no intention of retaining the attorney.
Rule 4.4(b)
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Opinion 98-04 |
Communication With Client | Confidentiality | Inadvertent Receipt and Disclosure of Confidential Materials
A lawyer who, without notice of the inadvertent transmission, receives and reviews an opposing party’s confidential materials through the error or inadvertence of opposing counsel, may use information in such materials. A lawyer who knows of an inadvertent transmission before confidential materials of an opposing party have been opened and reviewed should return such materials without examination. A lawyer has a duty to advise a client that confidential information was inadvertently transmitted to and read by opposing counsel.