Legal Hotline Call Can Create Lawyer-Client Relationship

A legal ethics opinion says legal hotline calls can create a lawyer-client relationship, even when a disclaimer is issued.

A nonprofit trade association had urged adoption of a more lenient standard for hotline calls provided to its members, the New Jersey Law Journal reports. It contended a professional conduct rule adopted in 2004 allowed a disclaimer of lawyer-client privilege when a hotline provides short-term limited legal services without an expectation of continuing representation.

The New Jersey Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics rejected the trade group’s position in Opinion 712. A disclaimer is ineffective "as it is likely such a relationship will arise in the course of the provision of services by the attorneys staffing the legal hotline."