Rule 4-1.17 provides that the seller must attempt to serve each client with written notice of the contemplated sale, including the identity of the purchaser and the fact that the decision to consent to the substitution of counsel or to make other arrangements must be made within 30 days.
Key Provisions of Rule 4-4.2 Prohibition of Communication: Attorneys are prohibited from directly contacting a represented person about the subject matter of the representation without the consent of the represented person's counsel.
For those lawyers who are employees of one company, they are not considered to have a private practice or a public practice. These lawyers are called “in-house counsel.” That means they are directly employed by one client and are typically prevented from being able to take on any other clients.
Therefore, controversy has emerged over the scope of the attorney–client privilege between the counsel and the president and vice president, namely with John Dean of Watergate notoriety. It is clear, however, that the privilege does not apply in strictly personal matters.
Under Rule 4-1.6, a lawyer may only disclose information relating to the representation if the lawyer has the client's informed consent or one of the exceptions stated in subdivisions (b) or (c) applies.
Common interest privilege, also known as the joint defense privilege, is an extension of attorney-client privilege that protects the compelled disclosure of communications between two or more parties and/or their respective counsel when the parties are allied in a common legal interest.
Rule 4-4.2, Rules of Professional Conduct, provides that, in representing a client, a lawyer cannot communicate with a person the lawyer knows to be represented by another lawyer in the matter unless the other lawyer gives consent.
(a) PROOF OF SERVICE. Within twenty-one days after service of a summons and complaint, a party must file proof of service.
Consequently, the plaintiff had the right to depose the attorney despite his in-house status. Thus, knowing that the privilege applies to in-house counsel, the inquiry shifts to the scope of the privilege.