You have three hearings and a deposition scheduled on the only day available in the near future for the judge and opposing counsel to attend a motion hearing, and your client is anxious about moving her case along. You know that if you lose that date, the next available one for all parties involved will be several weeks later, and your client will be very disappointed. You’ve tried to reschedule or resolve the events pending on your calendar, but to no avail.
For the attorney practicing in a larger firm, such a scenario would not pose much of a dilemma. But for the small-firm or sole practitioner, obtaining coverage may create ethical and professional issues that need to be addressed. While there is no specific rule of professional conduct directly outlining the coverage issues necessarily implicated by the above scenario, several of the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar may be applicable, and should be considered, when contemplating coverage by an attorney outside of your firm.
Under the Rules of Professional Conduct, a lawyer should be competent, prompt, diligent and make reasonable efforts to expedite litigation. Under the above scenario, the client’s concern for moving her case along highlights the lawyer’s responsibility to the client, and all reasonable efforts should be made by the lawyer to accommodate her client’s concern. Choosing to obtain coverage for purposes of expediting litigation, however, must be balanced against the necessity to provide the client with competent representation, which may involve a level of knowledge about the facts or law of the case not readily realized by outside counsel. Additionally, outside counsel may have as-yet undetermined conflicts of interest, which should be examined prior to his undertaking representation, even in the limited coverage situation. The client’s confidences also must be preserved, and care taken to diligently represent the client’s interests within the parameters of the coverage situation. Most importantly, the client should be fully advised respecting the fee arrangements and coverage by outside counsel.
The small-firm or sole practitioner may effectively utilize outside counsel to speed the cause, resolve scheduling conflicts, or offer her client a different level or kind of expertise. However, when doing so, consideration should be given to principles of ethics and professionalism to ensure the client the highest level of representation.