1.2:250 LAWYER's DUTIES TO CLIENT IN GENERAL

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

1.2:250 Lawyer's Duties to Client in General

After establishing an attorney-client relationship, the lawyer becomes a fiduciary, with a duty of loyalty, allegiance, and care to the client. In re Piatt, 191 Ariz. 24, 951 P.2d 889 (1997). A lawyer has a duty of utmost good faith to the client and is bound to discharge the duties to the client with strict fidelity. In re Baker, 102 Ariz. 346, 429 P.2d 665 (1967). This duty of good faith includes the obligation to keep the client apprised of matters that may adversely affect the client's interests. Mageary v. Hoyt, 91 Ariz. 41, 369 P.2d 662 (1962). Attorneys continue to owe current clients a duty of loyalty, even if they are not acting as the clients' attorney in a particular transaction. In re Estate of Fogleman, 197 Ariz. 252, 3 P.3d 1172 (App. 2000).

It was previously noted that a lawyer also has a duty to act as a zealous advocate of the client. Hitch v. Pima Cnty. Super. Ct., 146 Ariz. 588, 708 P.2d 72 (1985). In Hitch, the Arizona Supreme Court recognized that "[a]s a representative of his client, a lawyer must act as a zealous advocate, demonstrating loyalty to his client and giving him the best legal advice possible within the bounds of the law." Id. at 592, 708 P.2d at 76.[4] The duty of undeviating loyalty is "not just a casual obligation to be turned on or off as the dictates of the moment indicate or particular employment may demand." In re Evans, 113 Ariz. 458, 462, 556 P.2d 792, 796 (1976). This duty of loyalty runs to insured individuals, even when the attorney is being compensated by the insurance company. Parsons v. Continental Nat'l Am....