OHIO

Appellate Court Decisions

Trial Court Matters

Ethics Opinions

Ohio Board of Commissioners on Grievance and Discipline announces two new opinions affecting defense lawyers

Opinion 2000-2 holds:

Under DR 4-101(B)(3) and DR 4-101(C)(1), an attorney may not submit detailed legal bills to an outside audit company hired by an insurer without first obtaining client consent after full disclosure.   Full disclosure includes informing the client of the type of information required by the insurer in the billing invoice, the type of supporting documentation, if any, required by the audit, and that waiver of attorney-client privilege might be raised as a consequence.  Whether submission of legal bills to an audit company waives the attorney-client privilege or work product doctrine is a question of law beyond the scope of this opinion.

ftp://ftp.sconet.state.oh.us/BOCOpinions/2000/Op.%202000-2.doc

Opinion 2000-3 holds:

It is improper under DR 5-107(B) for an insurance defense attorney to abide by an insurance company's litigation management guidelines in the representation of an insured when the guidelines directly interfere with the professional judgment of the attorney. Attorneys must not yield professional control of their legal work to an insurer.

ftp://ftp.sconet.state.oh.us/BOCOpinions/2000/Op.%202000-3.doc

Editors note:  thanks to James L. McCrystal for the preparation and submission of these summaries