Official Government Website
The Ethics of Bad Facts and Bad Law
Sponsored by the Idaho Law Foundation, Inc. in partnership with Freestone and WebCredenza, Inc.
Wednesday, June 29, 2022
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (MT)
1.0 Ethics credit
Registration Fee: $55.00
Every representation involves “bad” facts and/or “bad” law – facts and law that run counter to a client’s objectives. Ethical tensions and issues arise when a lawyer has todisclose bad facts or law to a court or administrative panel, or even to an adversary. At what point does the lawyer’s duty as a member of the bar and officer of the court require disclosure even when it is adverse to a client’s interest whom the lawyer must zealously represent? What are the limits to how a lawyer may represent an adverse fact or adverse law, even unpublished law, to an adversary? Answering these difficulty questions may not only impact the outcome of a representation but potentially expose ethical sanction. This program will provide you with a practical guide to the ethical issues surrounding bad facts and bad law in client representations.
- Lawyer ethical duties to disclose bad facts and bad law
- Ethical issues surrounding the representation of adverse facts to tribunals and adversaries
- Duties to disclose adverse legal precedent to courts and administrative panels
- When is a lawyer required to disclose bad fact or law versus when they may disclose?
- Timing issues – at what stage should adverse facts and law be disclosed?
- Related issues of confidentiality and the attorney-client privilege
- Ex parte communications with the courts – what’s ethically permissible, what’s not?
