When Mom and Dad Are Paying the Bills: The Ethics of Payments by Third Parties

This ethics course will analyze attorneys' duties and obstacles when a third-party is footing the bill. Using the Model Rules of Professional Conduct and Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct as a guideline, the course will address the steps that should be taken to protect the client's best interest. It will also look at the law of privilege and waiver and rules governing the representation of multiple parties, and how those concepts apply to payments by third parties. 

Learning Objectives: 

1. Discuss the ABA Model Rules at play when a third party is paying the bills. The Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct (and the relevant comments to those rules) will also be used as an example to assess common points of divergence from the Model Rules
2. Analyze privilege and waiver issues that may apply when a third party is paying the bills and when the third party might want access to key case information or strategy
3. Consider whether it is possible or advisable to extend the scope of the representation to include the third-party payor