Texas Ethic Opinion 648
Professional Ethics Committee for the State Bar of Texas
Topic:
Communication of confidential information by email
Conclusion of the Committee:
“Under the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, and considering the present state of technology and email usage, a lawyer may generally communicate confidential information by email. Some circumstances, may, however, cause a lawyer to have a duty to advise a client regarding risks incident to the sending or receiving of emails arising from those circumstances and to consider whether it is prudent to use encrypted email or another form of communication.”
Rules: Texas Rules of Professional Conduct 1.05
Mentioned Ethics Opinions:
- ABA Comm. on Ethics and Prof’l Responsibility, Formal Op. 99-413 (1999)
- ABA Comm. on Ethics and Prof’l Responsibility, Formal Op. 11-459 (2011)
- State Bar of Cal. Standing Comm. on Prof’l Responsibility and Conduct, Formal Op. 2010-179 (2010)
- Prof’l Ethics Comm. of the Maine Bd. of Overseers of the Bar, Op. No. 195 (2008)
- N.Y. State Bar Ass’n Comm. on Prof’l Ethics, Op. 820 (2008)
- Alaska Bar Ass’n Ethics Comm., Op. 98-2 (1998)
- D.C. Bar Legal Ethics Comm., Op. 281 (1998)
- Ill. State Bar Ass’n Advisory Opinion on Prof’l Conduct, Op. 96-10 (1997)
- State Bar Ass’n of N.D. Ethics Comm., Op. No. 97-09 (1997)
- S.C. Bar Ethics Advisory Comm., Ethics Advisory Op. 97-08 (1997)
- Vt. Bar Ass’n, Advisory Ethics Op. No 97-05 (1997)
- Texas Professional Ethics Committee Opinion 572 (June 2006)
The full text of the opinion can be found at http://www.legalethicstexas.com…