RPC RULE 4.4
                  RESPECT FOR RIGHTS OF THIRD PERSON


  (a) In representing a client, a lawyer shall not use means that have no
substantial purpose other than to embarrass, delay, or burden a third
person, or use methods of obtaining evidence that violate the legal rights
of such a person.

  (b) A lawyer who receives a document relating to the representation of
the lawyer's client and knows or reasonably should know that the document
was inadvertently sent shall promptly notify the sender.

Comment

  [1] Responsibility to a client requires a lawyer to subordinate the
interests of others to those of the client, but that responsibility does
not imply that a lawyer may disregard the rights of third persons. It is
impractical to catalogue all such rights, but they include legal
restrictions on methods of obtaining evidence from third persons and
unwarranted intrusions into privileged relationships, such as the client-
lawyer relationship.

  [2] Paragraph (b) recognizes that lawyers sometimes receive documents
that were mistakenly sent or produced by opposing parties or their
lawyers. If a lawyer knows or reasonably should know that such a document
was sent inadvertently, then this Rule requires the lawyer to promptly
notify the sender in order to permit that person to take protective
measures. Whether the lawyer is required to take additional steps, such as
returning the original document, is a matter of law beyond the scope of
these Rules, as is the question of whether the privileged status of a
document has been waived. Similarly, this Rule does not address the legal
duties of a lawyer who receives a document that the lawyer knows or
reasonably should know may have been wrongfully obtained by the sending
person. For purposes of this Rule, "document" includes e-mail or other
electronic modes of transmission subject to being read or put into
readable form.

  [3] Some lawyers may choose to return a document unread, for example,
when the lawyer learns before receiving the document that it was
inadvertently sent to the wrong address. Where a lawyer is not required by
applicable law to do so, the decision to voluntarily return such a
document is a matter of professional judgment ordinarily reserved to the
lawyer. See Rules 1.2 and 1.4.


[Amended effective September 1, 2006.]