NYCLA’S PROFESSIONAL ETHICS COMMITTEE ISSUES OPINION 741

NYCLA’S PROFESSIONAL ETHICS COMMITTEE ISSUES OPINION 741

March 23, 2010 – NEW YORK, NY – The Professional Ethics Committee of the New York County Lawyers’ Association (NYCLA) has issued Ethics Opinion 741, explaining a lawyer’s obligation upon learning that a client has lied about a material issue in a civil deposition. Ethics Opinion 741 clarifies lawyers’ duties under Rule 3.3 of New York’s Rules of Professional Conduct, which were adopted by the Appellate Divisions, effective April 1, 2009. Under the new Rules of Professional Conduct, a lawyer who knows of a client’s past perjury must take reasonable remedial action, including, if necessary, disclosure to the tribunal. The new rules represent a change in previous law and prompted the NYCLA Professional Ethics Committee to withdraw its prior opinion, NYCLA Ethics Opinion 712, which had been based on the former Code of Professional Responsibility. For conduct taking place after April 1, 2009, New York lawyers should seek guidance from NYCLA Ethics Opinion 741, which is available on NYCLA’s website. Visit www.nycla.org and click on Ethics on the left-hand side of the page and then on Ethics Opinions.

NYCLA’s Professional Ethics Committee is the oldest bar association ethics committee in the country and, starting in January 1912, the first to issue written ethics opinions. Committee members staff the NYCLA Ethics Hotline, which accepts both written and telephone inquiries on ethics matters and provides advisory opinions.

The New York County Lawyers’ Association (www.nycla.org) was founded in 1908 as the first major bar association in the country that admitted members without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, gender or sexual identity. Since its inception, it has pioneered some of the most far-reaching and tangible reforms in American jurisprudence and has continuously played an active role in legal developments and public policy.

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