Abstract
When the government obstructs a detainee’s ability to communicate with attorneys, normal rules governing the formation of attorney-client relationships break down. While some work-arounds exist to allow lawyers to bring such cases to court, they have significant limitations and can create problems of their own. The legal profession and the courts should adopt new rules modeled on emergency medicine to facilitate the filing of urgent civil rights claims for clients who are not in a position to consent. In emergency medicine, physicians can presume client consent for certain narrow and urgent purposes. Certain lawyers, in extreme cases, should be able to do the same.
Recommended Citation
Michael Kagan, Representing the Incommunicado Client: Regulating the Attorney-Client Relationship in a Civil Rights Emergency, 83 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. Online 79 (2025), https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/wlulr-online/vol83/iss2/1
Included in
Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons, Courts Commons, Immigration Law Commons, Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Commons, Legal Profession Commons