CBA Record May-June 2025

The Committee concludes its guidance by giving attorney crime victims an opportunity to withdraw from representation. Indeed, the Committee found it unlikely that an attorney who became a victim of a crime could competently represent a client, implying that withdrawal may very well be compulsory. An attorney’s duty of confidentiality is broad. It is not, how ever, unlimited. The duty of confidentiality shields client interests

and protects their trust. But where attorneys become victims of crimes by their clients, attorneys can report those situations. In fact, it contravenes the purpose of the Model Rules to allow cli ents to use the attorney-client relationship as a sword against their attorneys. Thus, the ABA Committee has made clear that attor neys may disclose such criminal acts when they or their staff and close associates become victims at the hands of their clients.

Game Changer or False Hope?

CBA RECORD 47