Ethics Advisory: Don't Get it on Paper!

1 The Committee was addressing the everydaysituation of a lawyer who receives a letter from opposingcounsel, with an indication that the sender has copiedhis client on the letter. But when the New Jersey Advisory Committee onProfessional Ethics was asked whether a lawyer can relyon an opposing lawyer's consent, the Committee responded,Yes, if the consent is not on paper, but no if theconsent is on paper. When a lawyer copies his client on a traditional letter,he has no reason to believe that the recipient willregard the act as consent to copying that client on theresponse. [Extracted from the article]