I recently viewed an ethics seminar dealing with Wisconsin lawyers’ duty of confidentiality. As an employee rights lawyer, one of the hypothetical fact scenarios really hit home.
As I remember it, the scenario was that John is an attorney at a firm. He practices employment law in Milwaukee including representing employees in cases of employment discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation. One of his partners practices corporate law and represents XYZ Company. Jane works for XYZ Company and is seeking a Wisconsin employment law firm to represent her in a gender and disability discrimination case against her employer. She contacts John by telephone and leaves him a detailed voicemail message explaining that she wants representation to sue XYZ Company for gender and disability discrimination.
This may be shocking to many non-lawyers but under the hypothetical fact scenario, because John was not engaged in a “discussion” with Jane about potential representation, Jane had no expectation of confidentiality and, therefore, John has no duty to keep the information contained in the voicemail message from Jane confidential. John may, therefore, disclose this information to his partner. Further, John’s partner might have an ethical duty to communicate the substance of Jane’s voicemail to XYZ Company.
This hypothetical fact situation demonstrates the importance of finding a partner you can trust should you ever need legal advice regarding your employment. Carroll Law Firm, SC is a Milwaukee Area Employment Law Firm which represents employees, professionals and executives in employment matters. The firm does not represent employers. You can rest assured that if you leave a voicemail message or complete our Initial Assessment Form, the information you provide will be kept strictly confidential.