In June 2021, the Texas Professional Ethics Committee issued Opinion 691 which discussed an attorney’s duty to prospective clients, as well as when a prospective client consultation could later conflict others in the firm from representing a person adverse to that prospective client. New Rule 1.18, which is similar to ABA Model Rule 1.18, picks up where Opinion 691 left off, and further provides additional guidance regarding the ability to avoid an imputed prospective client conflict in certain circumstances. This week we will focus on who qualifies as a prospective client and what a lawyer’s duties are to that person. 

First, to understand Rule 1.18’s application, a lawyer must first understand who is and who is not a prospective client. Rule 1.18(a) clearly identifies a prospective client as someone who “consults with a lawyer in good faith about the possibility of forming a client-lawyer relationship with respect…