Hinderks Provides Guidance on Managing Opposing Party Requests in The Legal Intelligencer

12.31.2024

Stinson LLP Senior Counsel Mark Hinderks authored a column for The Legal Intelligencer, "Avoiding Conflict When Relating Advice to an Adverse Party to Facilitate a Client Matter."

Hinderks provides guidance on how attorneys can respond to requests from unrepresented opposing parties requesting legal documents or information about the law, ensuring they avoid conflicts of interest and do not accidentally establish an attorney-client relationship. He highlights the significance of clear communication, in accordance with Model Rules 1.7 and 4.3, to avoid any potential conflict of interest during the transactions.

"In order to respond to these requests, you should first advise each of the opposing parties (preferably in writing) that you are responding to their request as counsel for your client and not as their lawyer, that you do not represent them, and that you advise them to seek their own counsel about the matter," Hinderks writes.

Hinderks leads the firm's Legal Ethics & Professional Responsibility practice. He is the author of Dear Ethics Lawyer, a twice-monthly newsletter with questions and answers concerning legal ethics, and a co-founder and presenter of "Ethics for Good," a twice-annual stage show which uses humor, skits and real-world scenarios to teach legal ethics to lawyers. Hinderks has presented more than 135 programs on legal ethics over the past 30 years, has authored many articles and handbook chapters on legal ethics, and has been deeply involved in professional organizations with legal ethics and professional responsibility as their focus.

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