Indiana Litigation

NLADA Update, Volume 2, No. 9
June 19, 2000

Indiana Program Seeks Ruling On IPAs’ Access to Client Files

Late Breaking News! Just as NLADA Update went to press, the Indiana Supreme Court issued an order declining LSPNI’s request. In the order, the court said:

"An elemental principle of juris prudence is that courts do not answer non-adversarial, abstract questions of law…. In rare cases the Court might depart from that fundamental principle. However, we do not consider this a circumstance where such an extraordinary departure from the usual course of proceedings is warranted. Much of LSPNI’s complaint revolves around allegations that the federal agency at issue is not following the law and its own policies. Disputes of this nature are more appropriately addressed through litigation, negotiation or the invocation of congressional intervention. To the extent the client confidentiality issues which led to the filing of the petition are contractual in nature (either between LSPNI and the federal agency or between LSPNI and its clients), again, other formal and informal mechanisms are available to resolve those issues."

1. whether the LSC Act supersedes the Indiana Rules of Professional Conduct;
2. whether the surrender of files to auditors violates the attorneys’ ethical obligations; and
3. whether LSC-funded programs are required to inform clients and former clients that they may have a claim against the program for malpractice or ethical violations.