Court Opinion

ID: 9709552
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 03:50:46.591441+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:50.025445
License: Public Domain

SULLIVAN, Judge,
concurring.
I concur except to the extent that an implication may be drawn from Footnote 7 that an attorney-client relationship is actually created by facts which give rise to a claim of promissory estoppel. The effect of pleading promissory estoppel, as required by Trial Rule 8(C), and factual proof of that claim, is in many respects the same as if the relationship was actually created by a contract of employment. This is not to say, however, that the attorney-client relationship actually exists.
To be sure, the person who establishes promissory estoppel is entitled to the benefit of the doctrine which precludes the attorney from denying that a relationship existed. Furthermore, the “client” may recover for any injury or damage sustained as a result of reasonable and justified reliance upon the attorney’s conduct, words or silence. However, many duties, responsibilities and consequences attach to a true attorney-client relationship which do not come into play with regard to the status of the parties as defined by a promissory es-toppel situation.
Some ramifications of the attorney-client relationship are simply inapplicable in a promissory estoppel setting. For example, it would seem inappropriate for the attorney to attempt to offset the damages occasioned to the “client” by a claim for attorney fees. Additionally, the Rules of Professional Conduct regarding such matters as conflict of interests, confidentiality, and the duty of continuing communication simply do not have relevance to the issue.
Subject to this caveat, I concur.