The rules for confidentiality in the context of a lawyer-client relationship are unequivocal. The American Bar Association’s rules for professional responsibility state that “a lawyer shall not reveal information relating to the representation of a client unless the client gives informed consent.” (There are also a few other circumstances that don’t apply here—for example, a lawyer can talk about the representation if he thinks his client is about to kill or hurt someone, or if the client is suing him.) The Florida bar has adopted a version of the same rule. The duty of confidentiality extends beyond the time of the representation—forever. Lawyers have had anguished battles with themselves over whether to reveal that a client told them that he committed a crime someone else was convicted for, even after the client’s death.
And yet, here come Sonner and Hal Uhrig, breaking off that representation on television in a series of statements that reveal all kinds of confidential information that could potentially hurt their former client. The lawyers said Zimmerman, who killed Martin in February and has made an embattled claim of self-defense, was "not doing well emotionally" and "may not be in complete control of what's going on." They also said, taking umbrage, that he’d called Sean Hannity without going through them. Maybe it’s not a good sign if Hannity is your lifeline, but Zimmerman has the right to talk to anyone he wants. Uhrig and Sonner seemed most concerned that Zimmerman wanted to talk directly to special prosecutor Angela Corey on his own. Yes, that’s odd and probably a bad idea—Corey reportedly said, wisely, that she would only talk to Zimmerman with his counsel. But this is not a fact that Zimmerman’s lawyers should be making public. Since the lawyers also said that Zimmerman hasn’t been calling them back, it’s very hard to see how he could have consented to their amazing release of information.
When I asked NYU law professor and ethics expert Stephen Gillers whether Uhrig and Sonner had broken the rules, he emailed back: “Jaw dropping. Literally. I struggle to find the appropriate adjectives to describe their behavior. The clip will be useful in legal ethics classes under the heading 'HOW NEVER TO BEHAVE.' ”