Bruce Green was quoted in a Washington Post article about President Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen’s claims that he secretly taped President Trump discussing payment to a former Playboy model.
The rules of professional responsibility and legal ethics hinge on whether a lawyer acted deceptively or dishonestly, two fairly ambiguous descriptors.
“The traditional view was that any secret tape recording was deceitful,” said Bruce Green, professor at Fordham University School of Law. Over time, though, social expectations shifted. As people became more accustomed to being recorded, the American Bar Association backed away from that position.
The ABA, whose standards are often models for state laws, wrote an opinion — published in 2001 — that said secret tape recordings of third parties were not ordinarily deceptive. However, the ABA ethics committee was divided on whether it violated legal ethics to secretly record a client.
“The general weighted opinion is that an attorney must have a justifiable reason, assuming he’s in a state that allows it,” said Green, adding that there’s rarely a good reason to record a client.