CBA Record October 2017

Y O U N G L A W Y E R S J O U R N A L

MAKING AN OFFER YOUR CLIENT CAN REFUSE How to Safely Advise Clients to Reject a Bad Deal By Matthew H. Bunn

V ito Corleone, from the Godfather, makes your client an offer she can’t refuse. As an attorney, you know Vito’s deal is a bad deal for your client, so you advise her to refuse the deal. Frus- trated, Vito sues your client for breach of contract and you, her attorney, for tortious interference with contract and tortious

interference with prospective economic advantage. How safe are you fromVito (in court, at least)? As lawyers, we are zealous advocates for our clients. Indeed, the Rules of Profes- sional Conduct compel us to be. But can overzealousness get an attorney in trouble? For example, can an attorney acting to

protect a client’s interests get sued when the client breaches a contract or terminates an expected business relationship with a third-party based on their attorney’s advice? Like most questions in the law, the simple answer is: it depends. The real answer is that, in Illinois, an attorney will not get in trouble as long as the attorney acts as

46 OCTOBER 2017