Abstract :
Transactional attorneys routinely give third-party closing legal opinions to third parties. As they do so, they give advice to their own clients that is related to those opinions. There is a customary practice that guides attorneys in providing advice to clients in the third-party opinion context. While customary practice for giving and receiving third-party opinions is well articulated, customary practice for giving advice to clients in the third-party opinion context has not been articulated. The authors maintain that the lack of an articulated, customary practice for advice to clients in the third-party opinion context frequently confuses clients and unnecessarily puts third-party opinion givers and attorneys for recipients at risk for claims by their own clients. The authors call attention to two recent cases involving clients suing their own attorneys, which arose out of third-party opinions given to facilitate closing a client transaction. In this article, the authors suggest that those concerned with third-party opinion practice formally articulate a customary practice for client advice given in the third-party opinion context.