If a client threatens to commit suicide, can the lawyer call emergency services and share information to protect the client?
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This page answers the general question as of 1986. Ezel answers yours: whether it's allowed on your facts, under the current rules of professional conduct in your state, with citations.
Plain-English summary
The committee addressed what a lawyer may do when faced with a client who threatens to commit suicide and the lawyer reasonably believes the client might attempt to carry out that threat. It analyzed the situation under RPC 1.13, the rule then governing a client under a disability.
The committee was of the opinion that, in that situation, the lawyer may take protective action on the theory that the client is, at least temporarily, under a disability. The committee said that protective action might include a call to the public emergency services to get immediate intervention, and could allow the lawyer to provide whatever information was necessary to protect the client.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 1986, before the 2006 revisions to the Washington 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 Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance.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: Can a lawyer act on a client's suicide threat?
A: Under this 1986 opinion, yes. The committee concluded that a lawyer who reasonably believes the client might carry out the threat may take protective action under RPC 1.13.
Q: Can the lawyer call emergency services and share information?
A: The committee said protective action might include calling public emergency services for immediate intervention and could allow the lawyer to provide whatever information was necessary to protect the client.
Q: What was the basis for allowing protective action?
A: The committee reasoned that the client was, at least temporarily, under a disability, bringing the situation within RPC 1.13.
Background and rules framework
The opinion applied RPC 1.13, the Washington rule then governing the representation of a client under a disability (the subject of the inquiry). The corresponding current ABA Model Rule is Model Rule 1.14 (client with diminished capacity), which permits a lawyer to take reasonably necessary protective action when the lawyer reasonably believes a client with diminished capacity is at risk of substantial harm.
Citations and references
Rules of Professional Conduct:
- ABA Model Rule 1.14 (client with diminished capacity)
- Washington RPC 1.13 (client under a disability, pre-2006 numbering)
See also
- ABA Formal Op. 96-404: Client Under a Disability
- NY State Bar Op. 486: Disclosing a Client's Intent to Commit Suicide
- AL Ethics Op. 1995-06: Seeking a Guardian for an Unstable Client
Source
- Landing page: https://ao.wsba.org/print.aspx?ID=122
Original opinion text
Reproduced from the official source for research purposes. The linked source is authoritative.
The Committee was of the opinion that, when a lawyer is faced with the situation of a client who threatens to commit suicide, and the lawyer reasonably believes that the client might attempt to carry out that threat, the lawyer, pursuant to RPC 1.13, may take protective action on the theory that the client is, at least temporarily, under a disability. Such protective action might include a call to the public emergency services to get immediate intervention and could allow the lawyer to provide whatever information was necessary to protect the client.
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