Ethicality Of Pretexting

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Recommended: Ethics in the practice of law

Samuel DeRocco IV
The Ethical Issues of Pretexting in the Legal Profession
Pretexting is the use of deception or misrepresentation to obtain information and achieve a desired negative effect or advantage over an unsuspecting party. The issue of pretexting illustrates one of the many “blurred lines” of ethicality in the legal profession. An attorney is strictly prohibited from engaging in “conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation” under ABA Model Rule 8.4(c), yet some attorneys use deception as a means to find evidence to support his or her claim in a case. I disagree with the assertion that such practice should be innately considered unethical. Undercover investigations led by attorneys aimed at uncovering political corruption, discrimination, and organized crime have been around for decades, and operations of such activity is unlikely to end any time soon.
There is a trend in legal policy that determines the ethicality of pretexting by interpreting deceptive activities in both a “status-based” and “conduct-based” analyses. Examples of status classifying inc...

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