Pennsylvania Code › Title 204 - JUDICIAL SYSTEM GENERAL PROVISIONS › Part V - PROFESSIONAL ETHICS AND CONDUCT › Subpart A - PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY › Chapter 81 - RULES OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT › Subchapter A - RULES OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT › TRANSACTIONS WITH PERSONS OTHER THAN CLIENTS › Rule 4.4 - Respect for Rights of Third Persons

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(a) In
						representing a client, a lawyer shall not use means that have no substantial
						purpose other than to embarrass, delay, or burden a third person, or use
						methods of obtaining evidence that violate the legal rights of such a
						person.
(b) A lawyer who receives a
						document, including electronically stored information, relating to the
						representation of the lawyer's client and knows or reasonably should know that
						the document, including electronically stored information, was inadvertently
						sent shall promptly notify the sender.
Comment:
(1) Responsibility to a client requires a
						lawyer to subordinate the interests of others to those of the client, but that
						responsibility does not imply that a lawyer may disregard the rights of third
						persons. It is impractical to catalogue all such rights, but they include legal
						restrictions on methods of obtaining evidence from third persons and
						unwarranted intrusions into privileged relationships, such as the client-lawyer
						relationship.
(2) Paragraph (b)
						recognizes that lawyers sometimes receive a document, including electronically
						stored information, that was mistakenly sent or produced by opposing parties or
						their lawyers. A document, including electronically stored information, is
						inadvertently sent when it is accidentally transmitted, such as when an email
						or letter is misaddressed or a document, including electronically stored
						information, is accidentally included with information that was intentionally
						transmitted. If a lawyer knows or reasonably should know that such a document,
						including electronically stored information, was sent inadvertently, then this
						Rule requires the lawyer to promptly notify the sender in order to permit that
						person to take protective measures. Whether the lawyer is required to take
						additional steps, such as returning the document, including electronically
						stored information, is a matter of law beyond the scope of these Rules, as is
						the question of whether the privileged status of a document, including
						electronically stored information, has been waived. Similarly, this Rule does
						not address the legal duties of a lawyer who receives a document, including
						electronically stored information, that the lawyer knows or reasonably should
						know may have been inappropriately obtained by the sending person. For purposes
						of this Rule, "document, including electronically stored information,"
						includes, in addition to paper documents, email and other forms of
						electronically stored information, including embedded data (commonly referred
						to as "metadata"), that is subject to being read or put into readable form.
						Metadata in electronic documents creates an obligation under this Rule only if
						the receiving lawyer knows or reasonably should know that the metadata was
						inadvertently sent to the receiving lawyer.
(3) Some lawyers may choose to return a
						document or delete electronically stored information unread, for example, when
						the lawyer learns before receiving it that it was inadvertently sent. Where a
						lawyer is not required by applicable law to do so, the decision to voluntarily
						return such a document or delete electronically stored information is a matter
						of professional judgment ordinarily reserved to the lawyer. See Rules 1.2 and
						1.4.