As lawyers, we understand the importance of diligently representing our clients. We solve their problems, argue on their behalf in courtrooms, fight with adversaries to get the best results for them and answer their telephone calls and e-mails at all hours of the day and night. More than any other profession, we advocate for our clients. Indeed, the attorney-client relationship is the foundation of our profession. We strive to understand our clients and the duties we owe them, and we understand that privity attaches when we decide to represent a client. And just as our clients choose us, it is within our power to decide who we represent, and the matters we will accept.
However, the concept of privity — perhaps the most defining characteristic of our client relationships, and even of our profession — has been slowly eroded by courts around the country, and in New Jersey, over the last couple of decades. It is increasingly difficult for attorneys to recognize who their “clients” are, or to whom they owe duties of care. And as the attorney-client relationship becomes ever more challenging to define, lawyers’ exposure to professional liability claims continues to grow.
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