[textbook]Traversing the Ethical Minefield Problems, Law, and Professional Responsibility by Susan R. Martyn (z-lib.org)(1) (1)

Limited-term pro bono service, where nonlawyers seek legal information from
volunteer lawyers. 9
4. Joint Clients Clients may cluster in groups, and lawyers may be consulted or paid by one
client for the representation of two or more. In dePape, discussed in Chapter 5, a
prospective employer paid for both its own representation and that of a prospective
employee. The law firm inadequately responded to each client, frustrating the intent of
both. An even more common problem is loyalty, or resolving conflicts of interest that
nearly always lurk in joint representations. A lawyer must identify the conflict and obtain
each client’s informed consent to continue with the joint representation. 10 Some joint
client conflicts are not consentable, which means that the lawyer must tell the parties that
he or she cannot represent all of them.
5. Third-Person Direction Third-person nonclients who pay for or attempt to direct the
representation of a client also can tempt a lawyer to treat these third parties as if they
control the representation. But in law practice, he who pays the piper does not always call
the tune. For example, the mother who hires and pays a lawyer to represent her child in a
juvenile court is not a client. Neither is the son who hires and pays a lawyer to write his
father’s will. In some situations, it might not be clear whether a lawyer has agreed to take
on two clients or has agreed to represent only one, with the other paying the bill. The law
governing lawyers imposes the burden of clarification on the lawyer, who must initiate
communication to clarify the identity of the client(s) and remain loyal to the actual client,
not the person paying or speaking with the lawyer. 11
6. Insurance Defense Lawyers who are hired by insurers to represent insureds confront a
situation often fraught with similar ambiguity. Typical liability policies promise to
“defend” covered persons when they are sued for a covered event. The policy obligates an
insurer to hire a lawyer to provide this defense. Less clear is whether a joint representation
also has been created. As we shall see in Chapter 10, jurisdictions are split over whether the
lawyer represents one client, the insured, or two clients, the insured and the insurer, in such
a circumstance. Everyone agrees that lawyers owe fiduciary duties to their client-insureds.
Less clear than client identity is the extent to which lawyers may take direction from the
insurer, whether client or not.
7. Organizations Lawyers who represent organizations can face dozens of accidental clients.
In representing a publicly held corporation, family business, or governmental unit, a lawyer
must deal with individual agents who manage and direct the organization, but the lawyer
does not necessarily represent any of these individuals. In some circumstances the lawyer
can represent both an employer and employee, but the lawyer shoulders the burden of
adequate communication, protection of confidential information, and appropriate
informed consents to conflicts. Consistent with the law governing other accidental clientlawyer
relationships, the lawyer must clarify any doubtful situations, especially those where
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