May a Connecticut lawyer seek Better Business Bureau accreditation that includes voluntary nonbinding mediation of complaints?
Apply this to your situation
This page answers the general question as of 2013. Ask about yours and see what the current Connecticut Rules of Professional Conduct say for your facts, with citations.
Plain-English summary
The BBB accreditation standards required good-faith efforts to resolve complaints and possible participation in mediation when requested. Mediation would produce a nonbinding proposal, unlike arbitration's generally binding decision.
The lawyer's advance promise is only to participate personally. The client remains free to decline mediation, and neither lawyer nor client must accept the mediator's proposed outcome. The BBB standards did not require agreement to arbitration.
The process may require evidence or documents protected by Rule 1.6. Rule 1.6(d) permits disclosure necessary in a controversy concerning the lawyer's representation. The Committee expressly does not decide whether BBB accreditation is permissible advertising or a permissible referral service under Rule 7.2.
In practice
Under this opinion, a nonbinding mediation commitment is ethically permissible because it preserves client choice and does not predetermine the dispute's outcome. Confidential information remains limited to what Rule 1.6(d) permits for the lawyer's response.
Common questions
Q: Does the lawyer's BBB promise force the client to mediate?
A: No. Client participation remains voluntary.
Q: Must the lawyer accept the mediator's proposal?
A: No. The mediation result is nonbinding.
Q: Did the BBB standards require arbitration?
A: No. The opinion says arbitration might be recommended but was not required.
Q: May the lawyer disclose client information in the complaint process?
A: Only as necessary under Rule 1.6(d) to respond to a controversy concerning the representation.
Q: Did the Committee approve BBB accreditation as advertising?
A: No. It expressly leaves Rule 7.2 and referral-service questions undecided.
Background and rules framework
Rule 1.6(d) permits necessary disclosure in a dispute concerning the lawyer's representation. Rule 7.2 and Rule 7.2(c)(2) are identified as separate advertising and referral-service questions outside the opinion's holding.
Citations and references
Connecticut Rules of Professional Conduct:
- Rules 1.6(d), 7.2, and 7.2(c)(2)
See also
- Maine Ethics Op. 151: Fee arbitration clause
- Virginia LEO 1562: Fee arbitration and reporting duties
Source
- Landing page: Connecticut Bar Association Informal Ethics Opinions
- Original PDF: Informal Opinion 13-03
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