Angela Fonnesbeck's Report on the NCADRC Conference

During my recent attendance at the National Child Abuse Defense and Resource Center’s 17^th Annual International Conference I was reminded of the ethical considerations and concerns that must be confronted in all matters involving abuse.

Each morning of the conference opened with a presentation on ethics, highlighting the importance of our ethical responsibilities to clients as we later sort through the facts and laws of the case at hand.

Throughout these presentations three areas in particular stood out as deserving of our attention,

1. The fully informed client:  A client is entitled to full disclosure from their attorney – whether appointed or privately hired.  This is our duty as lawyers.  The client has the right to know all the positive aspects of their case, as well as the pitfalls of their case.  The client has a right to know what happens next and the potential consequences of all legal options.  Utah Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.4, requires that a lawyer, among other things, promptly inform the client of any decision or circumstance requiring their informed consent, keep the client informed about the status of the matter and promptly comply with requests for information.  Most of the presenters at this conference believe that a fully informed client had the right to know whether the attorney representing them will have any moral objections to the issues.  For example, if your client has been convicted of viewing child pornography will you be able to professionally represent them regardless of a personal bias? Utah Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 6.2, dealing with the acceptance of appointments, specifically indicates that a lawyer should not avoid appointment unless the “client or the cause is so repugnant to the lawyer as to be likely to impair the client-lawyer relationship.                                                                                                               
2. Who can/should be present during attorney-client meetings:  If anyone is present during any meeting with your client, confidentiality is waived.   This is especially important when representing children whose parents are paying the legal fees.  While parents may want to sit in on meetings with the client, to allow them to do so would waive confidentiality and should be avoided.  The presenters believed that these exclusions from attorney-client meetings were critical, as the person paying the fee often believes they have control over the case – which they do not.   Also, the presenters believed an attorney was less likely to get the “whole truth” out of a client, especially a minor, if the parents were present.                                                       
3. It is our responsible conduct complete discovery:  As the legal expert in a case our clients are relying on us to fully and completely engage in discovery. This includes: (i) understanding all of the facts, including the facts from our client’s perspective and how we may prove those facts to be true; (ii) subpoenaing all medical records (labs, consults, follow-up visits), reading them to determine what is there and what is missing, and understanding them; and (iii) hiring experts.

Even if as attorneys we believe we fully understand our ethical responsibilities to our clients, these presenters served as a reminder that it should be a focus of our practice and representation.   It is a duty we owe our clients who put their faith and trust in us as legal professionals.