Child abuse reporting law is often trumped by lawyer's duty of confidentiality, ethics opinion says
A lawyer’s duty of confidentiality often trumps an Indiana law providing for mandatory reporting of child abuse, according to an Indiana ethics opinion.
Lawyers who gain information about child abuse in the course of a representation cannot report it unless they get client consent or reporting is necessary to prevent reasonably certain death or substantial bodily harm, according to an Indiana ethics opinion. The ABA BNA Lawyers’ Manual on Professional Conduct has a report on the opinion (PDF) by the Legal Ethics Committee of the Indiana State Bar Association.
In instances where death or substantial bodily harm is reasonably certain, the reporting law applies and lawyers must make a report, the opinion says.
The Indiana law makes failure to immediately report suspected abuse or neglect a misdemeanor. Some state statutes on the subject exempt lawyers, but the Indiana law does not.
The ethics committee opinion says the Indiana Constitution gives the state supreme court authority over the legal profession, and its ethics rules control over conflicting legislation. The opinion notes that a Kentucky ethics opinion makes a similar constitutional analysis.
The opinion cautions, however, that the state supreme court is the final authority on Indiana law and the professional conduct of lawyers in the state.
