New Lawyers Tip (Continued from page 27)


Court makes it necessary, you must make full disclosure. The lawyer who is faced with the pros- pect of withdrawal in this instance should follow the requirements of Maryland Rule 2-132. In their motion, the attorney should disclose as little as possible to sup- port their withdrawal. They should cite to whatever ethical rule they are concerned about (ie. Rule 3.3 – Candor Toward the Tribunal) and merely state that their con- tinued representation in the case would cause them to run afoul of their obliga- tions under that particular rule. This may be sufficient to support their withdrawal. Any lawyer who find themselves in the undesirable position of navigating through these ethical considerations after a client lies in pretrial discovery should visit the Maryland State Bar Association’s website (www.msba.org) and review the Committee’s opinions of 97-3, 97-21, and 88-46. The lawyer should request an oral opinion by calling the ethics hotline of the Maryland State Bar Association Com- mittee on Ethics, or send a written request for an opinion. The lawyer should also consider consulting ethics counsel.


“AMFS


Avoidance: The Best Approach While there is no surefire way to pro-


tect yourself from a client who intends on keeping secrets from you, there are cer- tain steps you should take to protect yourself. The following tips will help you dissect your clients past history of injury and injury claims:


1. THE CLIENT INTAKE FORM – Your client intake forms should ask questions regarding the client’s prior injuries and prior insurance or worker’s compensation claims. If yours does not, change it. These questions should be completed by the client, in their own handwriting. This will protect you in the event the client who lies in pretrial discovery later asserts that you never asked about prior injuries or you told them to lie. If they answered these questions falsely in their initial visit, you are protected.


2. CLIENT COUNSELING – While some of us may have a paralegal or other staff member do client intake, you should always sit down with the client, either on the initial consulta- tion or at some other time early in your representation and go over the intake form with the client. Explain the im-


portance of a complete and honest dis- closure by the client and the importance of the questions pertain- ing to their prior injuries and claims. In the discovery phase of your case, you should sit down with the client and go over each written discovery response and explain their importance and the seriousness of not providing complete, truthful responses.


3. INDEXING CLIENTS – We all know that insurance companies index our clients to learn about their prior injury claims. You can do the same.


4. FAMILY MEMBERS – We all have elderly clients and it may be difficult for them to remember prior injuries or insurance claims. Their memory may be compromised. You may have more success if a spouse or other fam- ily member is present. They may remember things your client does not.


5. LEARN ABOUT THEIR DOC- TORS – Two points here - first, always request the records of your client’s pri- mary care physician(s), regardless of whether or not they treated with him or her as a result of the accident for which you represent them.


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records will usually contain names of other physicians who provided care for your client as wells as information per- taining to prior injuries, prior medical conditions, prior diagnostic tests, and prior reports of muscle or joint pain. Second, if your first client comes to your office having already seen a doc- tor, ask how they found the doctor. It may be they had a prior case and re- ceived treatment from that same doctor in the past.


6. THE WORKER’S COMPENSA- TION COMMISSION – If your client tells you they had a prior worker’s compensation claim, send a subpoena to the commission to obtain a copy of the file.


7. PRIOR ATTORNEY(S) – If your cli- ent tells you they had a prior claim in which they retained counsel ask them to sign a consent form and send a let- ter to their lawyer requesting a copy of the file. The prior lawyer may have information relating to your client’s past that you do not.


8. FOLLOW THE PAPER TRAIL – When opposing counsel sends out notices for document depositions make sure you look at each of the pro- viders. If you find health care providers you never heard of it’s a good sign that something is afoot. Get the records!


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