Documents Inadvertently Sent: Claw It Back. Shaming Lawyers For The Clients They Accept or Reject

Alex Jones’s law firm reportedly sent opposing counsel years of Jones’s text messages and they were used to cross-examine him. Could the firm have mitigated the harm through what has come to be known as claw back? Are Jones’s lawyers now exposed to discipline or damages?

Famed appellate lawyer Paul Clement left Kirkland when the firm decided to stop advocating for Second Amendment rights. Clement had just one a big Second Amendment case in the Supreme Court. On the flip side, lawyers are sometimes shamed because of the clients they do represent. Who’s right here? No one did anything unethical. But can lawyers be criticized for the clients they accept or reject?

Stephen Gillers is the Elihu Root Professor of Law and Barbara Gillers is an Adjunct Professor of Law, both at New York University School of Law.

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Reference List for Podcast #19: Documents Inadvertently Sent: Claw It Back. Shaming Lawyers For The Clients They Accept or Reject.

Parkinson v. Bevis, 448 P.3d 1027 (Idaho 2019)(intentional disclosure of confidential information)

Thiery v. Bye, 597 N.W.2d 449 (Wis.Ct.App. 1999)(negligent disclosure of confidential information)

In Re Tonderum, 840 N.W.2d 487 (Neb. 2013)(discipline for revealing confidential information intentionally)

In re Skinner, 740 S.E.2d 171 (Ga. 2013) (discipline for negligence in conduct that created risk of disclosure of confidential information)

Perez v. Kirk & Carrigan, 822 S.W.2d 261 (Tex.App.1991)(voluntary disclosure of confidential information as a breach of fiduciary duty)

Russell Banks, The Sweet Hereafter

Brad Wendel, Lawyer Shaming, 2022 U. Ill. L. Rev. 175

Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954)

Wall Street Journal Editorial, June 23, 2022, You Won Your Gun Case. You’re Fired.

Law360, GOP Sens. Quiz Circuit Chiefs Over Kirkland Gun Cases Shift, August 18, 2022