Richard L. Abel
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199760374
- eISBN:
- 9780199827077
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199760374.003.0006
- Subject:
- Law, Legal Profession and Ethics
The Rules of Professional Conduct unambiguously state that “while representing a client, a member shall not communicate directly or indirectly about the subject of the representation with a party the ...
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The Rules of Professional Conduct unambiguously state that “while representing a client, a member shall not communicate directly or indirectly about the subject of the representation with a party the member knows to be represented by another lawyer in the matter, unless the member has the consent of the other lawyer”. The reasons are obvious. Lack of expertise is the very reason clients retain lawyers. This chapter presents a case illustrating the violation of this rule. The case involves José Orlando Lopez, who was arrested on September 26, 1989. Two months later he, Antonio Hernandez Escobedo, and Alfred Tarango Olivas were indicated by Assistant United States (US) Attorney John Lyons before Judge Fern M. Smith in the Northern District of California for distributing fifty kilos of cocaine and two kilos of heroin. Lopez initially retained James Allen Twitty, who sought bail for all three. Then Lopez replaced Twitty with Barry Tarlow, and Olivas (who played a minor role thereafter) retained Harold Rosenthal, leaving Twitty with Escobedo.Less
The Rules of Professional Conduct unambiguously state that “while representing a client, a member shall not communicate directly or indirectly about the subject of the representation with a party the member knows to be represented by another lawyer in the matter, unless the member has the consent of the other lawyer”. The reasons are obvious. Lack of expertise is the very reason clients retain lawyers. This chapter presents a case illustrating the violation of this rule. The case involves José Orlando Lopez, who was arrested on September 26, 1989. Two months later he, Antonio Hernandez Escobedo, and Alfred Tarango Olivas were indicated by Assistant United States (US) Attorney John Lyons before Judge Fern M. Smith in the Northern District of California for distributing fifty kilos of cocaine and two kilos of heroin. Lopez initially retained James Allen Twitty, who sought bail for all three. Then Lopez replaced Twitty with Barry Tarlow, and Olivas (who played a minor role thereafter) retained Harold Rosenthal, leaving Twitty with Escobedo.
