Ethical considerations of ex-parte communications with company employees.

• Jurisdiction: United States
• Author: Dameris, Thad T.
• Date: 01 October 2005

In the June, 2005 Aviation and Space Law newsletter, Thad T. Dameris and his associate Kent A. Radford discuss the ethical considerations that corporate lawyers face when investigations lead to conversations with current and former company employees.

Imagine representing an airline or aircraft manufacturer whose aircraft was just involved in a crash. Plaintiffs' lawyers are attempting to talk to current and former company employees about the crash and the events leading up to the crash. Is opposing counsel prohibited from engaging in this behavior?

The ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct speak to this situation.

In representing a client, a lawyer shall not communicate about the subject matter of the representation with a person the lawyer knows to be represented by another lawyer in this matter, unless the lawyer has the consent of the other lawyer or is authorized to do so by law or a court order. [ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 4.2 (2002).]

The purpose of the rule is to provide the represented person with protection against overreaching by adverse counsel, to prevent interference into the attorney-client relationship by adverse counsel, and to...