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SJ Quinney College of Law, University of Utah

Journal

2020

Attorney ethics

Articles 1 - 1 of 1

Full-Text Articles in Law

Disclosing The Danger: State Attorney Ethics Rules Meet Climate Change, Victor B. Flatt Jul 2020

Disclosing The Danger: State Attorney Ethics Rules Meet Climate Change, Victor B. Flatt

Utah Law Review

This Article suggests a novel concept in climate change law and attorney ethics law by proposing that many states’ attorney ethics laws could be interpreted to require, or at least permit, attorneys to disclose client activity relating to greenhouse gas emissions. Every state has some form of ABA Model Rule 1.6(b), either requiring or allowing attorneys to disclose client activities that result in death or substantial bodily harm. This Article asserts that precedent surrounding this disclosure rule indicates that the rule could be applicable to harms caused by greenhouse gas emissions. Attorney disclosures, in turn, could impact a wide swath …