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Can I disclose the parties I'm representing?
Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2015 6:11 pm
by Anonymous User
Under ethics rules, can I disclose to people outside the firm the parties I'm representing if its public knowledge that my firm represents them on this particular deal/case?
Re: Can I disclose the parties I'm representing?
Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2015 6:44 pm
by Johann
Anonymous User wrote:Under ethics rules, can I disclose to people outside the firm the parties I'm representing if its public knowledge that my firm represents them on this particular deal/case?
Why try to walk the ethics line to brag about the clients you are representing. Just a good habit to never mention a client by name when talking to firm outsiders.
The fuck is wrong with your prestige whores.
Re: Can I disclose the parties I'm representing?
Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2015 6:49 pm
by Johann
To be in more depth - the problem with mentioning the client is if you want to talk about the cool work you do then you cant because thats all confidential but you could be like yeah this client is having some problems with its diligence or whatever interesting issues are coming up with the client.
If you just want to brag about who you represent, I'll let FatDuck take it from here... Even small firms represent big clients. It's not unique or particularly cool. Just a nature of the business.
Re: Can I disclose the parties I'm representing?
Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2015 6:52 pm
by fats provolone
if it's not on your firm bio I wouldn't talk about it.
Re: Can I disclose the parties I'm representing?
Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2015 8:54 pm
by jd20132013
no one cares who u represent just fyi
especially at biglaw thats like bragging about whose butler you are
Re: Can I disclose the parties I'm representing?
Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2015 9:23 pm
by SemperLegal
Obviously the rules and facts are different, but my wife is a nurse and she always tells me she can reveal who her patients are or what they do/did, not both. I much rather hear about shitgargling, meth addled grannies than learn a bunch of stupid names.
Re: Can I disclose the parties I'm representing?
Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2015 9:30 pm
by smaug
SemperLegal wrote:Obviously the rules and facts are different, but my wife is a nurse and she always tells me she can reveal who her patients are or what they do/did, not both. I much rather hear about shitgargling, meth addled grannies than learn a bunch of stupid names.
Pretty sure that's the rule generally though some clients are totally confidential.
Re: Can I disclose the parties I'm representing?
Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2015 10:24 pm
by lacrossebrother
I'd like to cross post this and ask if this is you, OP?
lacrossebrother wrote:chimp wrote:lacrossebrother wrote:No, sorry, posting someone's LinkedIn as if it's a tabloid is as trashy as racism and demonstrates an autism-spectrum level of lack of discretion and lack of empathy.
you're a grade A autist
Ill move my tone back a bit to say that I find this type of behavior on linkedin worthy of shitpoasting on TLS:

Re: Can I disclose the parties I'm representing?
Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2015 12:06 am
by barkschool
Gianfranco: "thanks all, I'm excited to take the case. I hope you all will be relieved to know that the Creditors actually DID NOT distribute thousands of individuals' personal data. Their handling, which exposed the data to potential hackers however, I'll let the courts decide that one."
Re: Can I disclose the parties I'm representing?
Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2015 12:08 am
by SemperLegal
smaug wrote:SemperLegal wrote:Obviously the rules and facts are different, but my wife is a nurse and she always tells me she can reveal who her patients are or what they do/did, not both. I much rather hear about shitgargling, meth addled grannies than learn a bunch of stupid names.
Pretty sure that's the rule generally though some clients are totally confidential.
In that case, you'll never guess what CFO was just sitting in my conference room alternating shots of methamphetamines and decaf fecal matter.
Re: Can I disclose the parties I'm representing?
Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2015 6:33 am
by Anonymous User
Op here. Wow, that escalated quickly.
I just want to know if I can say in my firm bio or tell my good friends or spouse if I am working on, for example, "the m&a deal between household brand A and household brand B" or "a case here brand C is getting sued by brand d"
Re: Can I disclose the parties I'm representing?
Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2015 8:07 am
by SemperLegal
Anonymous User wrote:Op here. Wow, that escalated quickly.
I just want to know if I can say in my firm bio or tell my good friends or spouse if I am working on, for example, "the m&a deal between household brand A and household brand B" or "a case here brand C is getting sued by brand d"
Very different answers. Clients have to expressly approve advertising on their name. Telling friends about M&a deals is likely to get you a visit from both the bar authorities and Preet Bahara, you'll likely be ok if your representing Flo against the Aflac duck. But keep in mind our duty to not disparage or ham a client far exceeds attorney client priv, or even just the duty of confidentiality. Additionally, as soon as you tell people v what issues your on, they'll ask for details (even if they don't care), setting you up to breach or look like an ass.
More importantly, it exposes you to professional and legal risk (unless you have approval), for almost no gain.
Re: Can I disclose the parties I'm representing?
Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2015 12:58 pm
by zot1
Duuuude. You never ever talk about M&A deals until it's completely done.
Re: Can I disclose the parties I'm representing?
Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2015 10:01 pm
by crumb cake
jd20132013 wrote:no one cares who u represent just fyi
especially at biglaw thats like bragging about whose butler you are
lmao
Re: Can I disclose the parties I'm representing?
Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2015 10:10 pm
by Anonymous User
zot1 wrote:Duuuude. You never ever talk about M&A deals until it's completely done.
This. My corps professor told us a story of a girl who graduated from our school who lost her job and nearly got disbarred because she told her scumbag bf over breakfast why she was going to be working late (She was working on a M&A deal and she revealed the companies involved). The dude bought tons of stock of the company being acquired and the feds caught on. It was traced back to her and she got instantly dismissed from her big law firm.
OP, did you like not take corporations/business associations? If you're gonna be working on M&A deals, you probably should (along with sec reg).
Re: Can I disclose the parties I'm representing?
Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2015 11:49 pm
by lacrossebrother
Anonymous User wrote:zot1 wrote:Duuuude. You never ever talk about M&A deals until it's completely done.
This. My corps professor told us a story of a girl who graduated from our school who lost her job and nearly got disbarred because she told her scumbag bf over breakfast why she was going to be working late (She was working on a M&A deal and she revealed the companies involved). The dude bought tons of stock of the company being acquired and the feds caught on. It was traced back to her and she got instantly dismissed from her big law firm.
OP, did you like not take corporations/business associations? If you're gonna be working on M&A deals, you probably should (along with sec reg).
Burnnnnnn. Ya did you like not take BA
Re: Can I disclose the parties I'm representing?
Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2015 11:50 pm
by El Pollito
that story sounds real
DFTHREAD
Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2015 12:04 am
by Desert Fox
Re: Can I disclose the parties I'm representing?
Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2015 12:05 am
by fats provolone
El Pollito wrote:that story sounds real
her name was Ladasha. read about it in my corps class
Re: Can I disclose the parties I'm representing?
Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2015 1:09 am
by PMan99
Anonymous User wrote:Op here. Wow, that escalated quickly.
I just want to know if I can say in my firm bio or tell my good friends or spouse if I am working on, for example, "the m&a deal between household brand A and household brand B" or "a case here brand C is getting sued by brand d"
Your firm should handle the firm bio part...
Deals as mentioned above have a host of issues.
Cases are different since you (or your firm at least) are likely to be on the caption or mentioned in news articles or press blurbs which means by telling people you are on a case you aren't disclosing anything nonpublic. The general principle I follow is that if it's public information, you can talk about it. It's rare that people want to know more than what is in the complaint or answer, and if they do, you can say you can't talk about that because it's confidential for now.
Re: Can I disclose the parties I'm representing?
Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2015 1:24 am
by Anonymous User
I was doubtful of the story as well, but I actually was able to look it up. Story is near the end.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/ ... 4520e510e/
Didn't really matter for her I suppose. That firm imploded shortly afterwards.
Re: Can I disclose the parties I'm representing?
Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2015 11:38 pm
by Anonymous User
Op here. Sorry if I was not clear. The m&a deal has already been announced publicly and the law firm names are public.
I still can't disclose that I am personally working on this until the conclusion of the deal right?
Re: Can I disclose the parties I'm representing?
Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2015 7:23 am
by Anonymous User
Sorry to bump, but, is it not OK to talk about clients I represented in the past, outside of the M&A realm?
For example, tell an interviewer for a later job that during my 1L summer, I worked on a well-known public litigation for AT&T. Or, I drafted a patent application for Google. Hypotheticals ofc.
Thank
Re: Can I disclose the parties I'm representing?
Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2015 9:09 am
by SemperLegal
Anonymous User wrote:Sorry to bump, but, is it not OK to talk about clients I represented in the past, outside of the M&A realm?
For example, tell an interviewer for a later job that during my 1L summer, I worked on a well-known public litigation for AT&T. Or, I drafted a patent application for Google. Hypotheticals ofc.
Thank
Maybe, but why? They'll be just as impressed if you say you did high profile telecommunications litigation and ip prosecution work. The actual names of clients are feathers in the firm's cap, not yours. The substantive work a junior, or student, does is inversely proportional to the fame of the client. I.e. It's like bragging that your the butler of a butler to Scorsese.
Note: autocorrect changed celebrity to "Scorsese". I wonder if "auto analogy" is the new feature you patented for Google
Re: Can I disclose the parties I'm representing?
Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2015 9:55 am
by Anonymous User
SemperLegal wrote:Anonymous User wrote:Sorry to bump, but, is it not OK to talk about clients I represented in the past, outside of the M&A realm?
For example, tell an interviewer for a later job that during my 1L summer, I worked on a well-known public litigation for AT&T. Or, I drafted a patent application for Google. Hypotheticals ofc.
Thank
Maybe, but why? They'll be just as impressed if you say you did high profile telecommunications litigation and ip prosecution work. The actual names of clients are feathers in the firm's cap, not yours. The substantive work a junior, or student, does is inversely proportional to the fame of the client. I.e. It's like bragging that your the butler of a butler to Scorsese.
Note: autocorrect changed celebrity to "Scorsese". I wonder if "auto analogy" is the new feature you patented for Google
Makes sense... I was thinking, basically just to signal the nature of the work, not to brag about the client. And it seems a lot more natural, to me anyways. Like, if I say, I prosecuted a new software patent application for Uber, you know exactly what kinda technology space I'm talking about right away.
The way you phrased that sounds to me like you're just beating around the bush instead of just saying what you mean. Unless it's really expected that you should beat around the bush to avoid an ethical gray area or whatever
Idk, I'm sure you're right tho
Thank u.