general counsel at ABC, Inc., a large publicly traded corporation with thousands of shareholders, which means you are the primary lawyer for ABC. You attend confidential planning meetings of ABC's executives.

At a recent meeting, Charles, ABC's chief operating officer, made an announcement about ABC's wastewater storage facility:

"Folks, I regret to inform you that our tanks are starting to leak. We have no choice but to illegally discharge some highly poisonous wastewater into the sewer system to keep the tanks from failing until Maintenance can repair the leak. Otherwise the tanks may explode, releasing all the water. Fortunately, we have been able to keep it secret from the media."

Sam, the chief financial officer, agrees that this is the best they can do under the circumstances, and that they must keep the leak, and the plan to discharge further wastewater, confidential.

The executives do not ask your opinion. The meeting adjourns. Linda, president of ABC, is not present, but you know she will read the meeting minutes later and find out what happened.

You want to protect ABC, its officers, and its shareholders, but you are also worried about your own culpability because now you know about this event.

You decide to make a written record of what happened, and of your options as the company's lawyer, to ensure that you act properly, and also so no one can say you ignored the situation.

Assignment

a memorandum titled "To the File" in which you explore your options in compliance with ABA MR 1.6. You should (a) state the facts of what happened at the meeting, (b) identify your options, and (c) decide what to do.

Review the confidentiality rule for lawyers in ABA MR 1.6 and its Comment.

Legal Information Institute. (n.d.). Legal ethics. http://www.law.cornell.edu/ethics/aba/current/ABA_CODE.HTM#Rule_1.6

You can and should quote from the MR and the Comment where it assists your analysis.

Recall the Truth on Trial video. Write the memorandum from the perspective that Linda, president of ABC, is going to read the minutes of the meeting. She is going to ask you what you recommend for ABC and what you are going to do, just as the executives asked the lawyers for advice in the video.

Annenberg Learner (1989). Truth on trial [Video]. https://www.learner.org/series/ethics-in-america/truth-on-trial/

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