Can a lawyer break client confidentiality to alert family or authorities when a client threatens suicide?
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This page answers the general question as of 2001. Ezel answers yours: whether it's allowed on your facts, under the current Massachusetts Rules of Professional Conduct, with citations.
Plain-English summary
A client told a lawyer, during a discussion of his affairs, that he had decided to commit suicide. The decision was not precipitated by a terminal illness; the client seemed overwhelmed by his problems, and the lawyer was reasonably certain he was serious. The lawyer asked whether she could reveal that information to others who could prevent the client from carrying out the threat.
The committee began with Rule 1.6, which protected virtually all information relating to the representation. It concluded that, because suicide and attempted suicide were not crimes, the specific disclosure exceptions in Rule 1.6(b)(1)-(3) did not fit the facts, leaving Rule 1.6(b)(4) (disclosure "when permitted under these rules or required by law"). It then turned to Rule 1.14, governing a client with impaired capacity, whose paragraph (b) allowed a lawyer who reasonably believed a client had become incompetent and was at risk of substantial harm to consult family members, protective agencies, or others with authority to protect the client, and to disclose confidential information only to the extent necessary to do so.
The committee reasoned that a suicide threat plainly put the client at risk of substantial harm and often raised questions about competence. While acknowledging that some considered suicide decisions (for example, by certain terminally ill clients) might be adequately reasoned, it found no such situation here. It concluded that the lawyer was not required to make a medical judgment but could act under Rule 1.14 to preserve the status quo if she had a reasonable basis to believe the threat was real and stemmed from a mental disorder or disability that made the client incapable of a rational decision. The committee noted its earlier Opinion 79-6 had reached a similar result on different (substantive-law) grounds, but it preferred to rest this opinion on Rule 1.14.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 2001, before Massachusetts's adoption of the 2015 revisions to the Rules of Professional Conduct. Subsequent rule amendments or later opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance. Verify against current rules before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or requirement mentioned here.
Common questions
Q: Could a lawyer disclose a client's confidences to stop a threatened suicide?
A: The committee concluded a lawyer could notify family members, protective agencies, the police, or the client's doctors when she reasonably believed the threat was real and resulted from a mental disorder or disability preventing a rational decision, disclosing only what was necessary.
Q: Why did the committee rely on Rule 1.14 rather than the confidentiality exceptions in Rule 1.6?
A: Because suicide and attempted suicide were not crimes, the criminal/fraud exceptions in Rule 1.6(b)(1)-(3) did not apply. The committee instead grounded the disclosure in Rule 1.14, which authorized protective action and limited disclosure for a client of impaired capacity.
Q: Did the opinion treat every suicide threat as a capacity problem?
A: No. The committee acknowledged some considered decisions (such as by certain terminally ill clients) might be rational, but found that on the facts presented the threat indicated a mental disorder or disability.
Background and rules framework
The opinion interpreted Mass. R. Prof. C. 1.6 (confidentiality of information) together with Mass. R. Prof. C. 1.14 (client with diminished capacity), whose paragraph (b) authorized a lawyer to take protective action and to disclose confidential information to the extent necessary to protect a client at risk of substantial harm. Both corresponded to the Model Rules of the same numbers as they stood at the time.
Citations and references
Rules of Professional Conduct:
- Model Rule 1.6 / Mass. R. Prof. C. 1.6 (confidentiality; the relevant exceptions)
- Model Rule 1.14 / Mass. R. Prof. C. 1.14 (client with diminished capacity; protective action)
Cases:
- Commonwealth v. Mink, 123 Mass. 422 (1877) (cited in the committee's discussion of the historical treatment of suicide)
- Hughes v. New England Publishing Co., 312 Mass. 178 (1942)
Other opinions cited:
- MBA Opinion 79-6 (earlier guidance permitting disclosure to prevent imminent suicide)
See also
- MA Bar Ethics Op. 05-03: Helping a depressed client prepare for trial
- MA Bar Ethics Op. 05-05: Representing a son in a guardianship over the client
Source
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