When lawyers are looking to make a lateral move, they typically tell their prospective new firms the names of clients they represent in order to facilitate conflict checks. And the clients are usually none the wiser.
The American Bar Association earlier this month looked at amending its model rules of ethics to expressly codify that practice and give some guidelines for how to share that information. The proposed amendment to Model Rule of Professional Conduct 1.6, known as 105F, was met with opposition from those who thought sharing just the name of the client without the client’s approval could prejudice the client.
