The Illinois State Bar Journal recently relied on Armbruster Dripps Blotevogel LLC partner Roy Dripps to provide specific legal citations to show why it is improper for defense counsel to contact an opposing party’s family members, instead of that party’s lawyer, to encourage settlement. Although others offered general opinions on the issue, Roy cited to Rule 4.2 of the ethics rules, which prohibits attorneys from directly contacting parties who have their own attorneys, and specifically its comment 4 (“A lawyer may not make a communication prohibited by this Rule through the acts of another”), to show that these attempts are prohibited. Dripps said, “Hopefully the citation puts this issue to rest and prevents improper communications with parties through their family members.”
