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Client Internet Services Expose Firms To New Liability

By Jonathan Bick

Increasingly, client services include offering clients protected access to their personal case information over the Internet. These services are due to new client expectations of their attorneys to use the most modern communications technologies, including the Internet. Breaches of fiduciary obligations are increasingly becoming the basis for the civil liability of lawyers and law firms. A careful analysis of the nature and elements of a lawyer's fiduciary obligations to clients in the litigation context is therefore an integral part of evaluating what actions to take as a result of initiating such new offerings. As a consequence, law firms must initiate new notice, contractual and technical actions to make certain that the information stays sheltered. By undertaking such actions, law firms will be able to mitigate or eliminate their liability in the event their client's personal information is acquired from a law firm's computer or Internet system.

More and more attorneys are offering ' and their clients requesting- client services that include offering clients secure access to their personal case information by means of the Internet. Some law firms find such Internet Web site-based offerings to be a rapid, efficient and cost-effective method of communicating with clients, as well as other lawyers. Nevertheless, offering these services is not without an increase in legal liability for the law firm. Using the Internet to disperse confidential information raises potential ethical and legal issues that lawyers must face, with as of now, little guidance from the courts or bar associations.

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