The State Bar of California issued Formal Opinion Interim No. 110004 in April, addressing an attorney’s ethical duties in handling the discovery of electronically stored information. Getting to the interim opinion has been a long and winding road, to borrow a phrase from Paul McCartney. The comment period closed on June 24. The end of the road is near.
Two years ago, at its August annual meeting, the American Bar Association added a technology component to the comments in Model Rule 1.1 in the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct. The rule states that a “lawyer shall provide competent representation to a client.” The comment added to the obligation that lawyers should keep abreast of changes in the law, “including the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology.” (See “ABA Adopts Ethics Policy on Lawyers’ Use of Technology.”)
