White Paper

Ethical Rules of Negotiations and Relations with Non-Clients

 
Ethical Rules of Negotiations and Relations with Non-Clients. There are only a few rules that directly relate to the ethics of negotiations and relationships with third parties. Rule 4.1, which requires an element of honesty in communications, is the most obvious rule that is applicable to negotiations. Rule 4.1 states: In the course of representing a client a lawyer shall not knowingly: (a) Make a false statement of material fact or law to a third person; or (b) Fail to disclose a material fact to a third person when disclosure is necessary to avoid assisting a criminal or fraudulent act by a client, unless disclosure is prohibited by Rule 1.6.1 Rule 4.1 makes clear that only misstatements of material fact or law are precluded. In negotiations certain “facts” are not deemed material.

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John A. Snow is an attorney with Prince Yeates & Geldzahler, Salt Lake City, Utah. His practice consists of general civil litigation; including commercial, professional malpractice, construction, and insurance coverage and defense. Mr. Snow has been designated in The Best Lawyers in America as Lawyer of the Year in litigation, real estate and construction law; and designated in the areas of practice of legal malpractice-defense, commercial litigation and construction.

Faculty

John A. Snow

John A. Snow

Parsons Behle & Latimer