§4.2 - An Ounce of Prevention

• Jurisdiction: Washington

AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION

§4.2

Withdrawal from, or termination of, the attorney-client relationship can be a thorny, emotionally charged period. Avoiding conflict and difficulty requires close adherence to RPC 1.16 at the time of withdrawal, but planning and forethought long before that point may well resolve issues before they arise. Other chapters in this volume discuss the proactive duties of the attorney in detail, but some bear brief repetition here, for failure to heed those warnings is often the culprit when withdrawal is necessary and difficult. At the outset of— and throughout—the representation, an attorney must bear in mind that the RPCs require a lawyer to bring the client to an understanding about the important issues in the representation. Under RPCs 1.1, 1.3, and 1.4, lawyers owe clients duties of competence, diligence, and communication. And like physicians, lawyers have an "informed consent" rule that "denotes the agreement by a person to a proposed course of conduct after the lawyer has...