Limited Legal Services in Indiana

Effective January 1, 2010, under Indiana Rule of Professional Conduct 1.2, (Scope of Representation and Allocation of Authority between Client and Lawyer) a lawyer may limit the scope and objectives of the representation if the limitation is reasonable under the circumstances and the client gives informed consent.

The scope of services to be provided by a lawyer may be limited by agreement with the client or by the terms under which the lawyer's services are made available to the client. When a lawyer has been retained by an insurer to represent an insured, for example, the representation may be limited to matters related to the insurance coverage. A limited representation may be appropriate because the client has limited objectives for the representation. In addition, the terms upon which representation is undertaken may exclude specific means that might otherwise be used to accomplish the client's objectives. Such limitations may exclude actions that the client thinks are too costly or that the lawyer regards as repugnant, unethical, or imprudent.

Although this Rule affords the lawyer and client substantial latitude to limit the representation, the limitation must be reasonable under the circumstances. If, for example, a client's objective is limited to securing general information about the law the client needs in order to handle a common and typically uncomplicated legal problem, the lawyer and client may agree that the lawyer's services will be limited to a brief telephone consultation. Such a limitation, however, would not be reasonable if the time allotted was not sufficient to yield advice upon which the client could rely. Although an agreement for a limited representation does not exempt a lawyer from the duty to provide competent representation, the limitation is a factor to be considered when determining the legal knowledge, skill, thoroughness and preparation reasonably necessary for the representation. See Rule 1.1.

All agreements concerning a lawyer's representation of a client must accord with the Rules of Professional Conduct and other law. See, e.g., Rules 1.1, 1.8 and 5.6.

Effective January 1, 2010, under Rule 6.5 (Nonprofit and Court-Annexed Limited Legal Service Programs) Nonprofit organizations have programs through which lawyers provide short-term limited legal services such as advice or filling out legal forms that assist people in addressing their legal problems without further representation by a lawyer. In these programs, a lawyer-client relationship is established but there is no expectation that the lawyer’s representation of the client will continue beyond the limited consultation. Such programs are normally operated under circumstances in which it is not feasible for a lawyer to systematically screen for conflicts of interest as is generally expected before undertaking a representation. A lawyer who provides short-term limited legal services under this rule must secure the client’s informed consent to the limited scope of representation. If a short-term representation would not be reasonable under the circumstances, the lawyer may offer advice to the client but must also advise the client of the need for further assistance of counsel. Rules 1.6 and 1.9(c) apply to the limited representation. If, after beginning a limited, short-term representation, a lawyer begins to represent a client on an ongoing basis, Rules 1.7, 1.9 and 1.10 (conflicts of interest) become applicable.

Source: http://www.in.gov/judiciary/rules/prof_conduct/index.html