Iowa R. Prof'l Conduct 32:4.4

(a) In representing a client, a lawyer shall not use means that have no substantial purpose

other than to embarrass, delay, or burden a third person, or use methods of obtaining evidence

that violate the legal rights of such a person.

(b) A lawyer who receives a document or electronically stored information relating to the

representation of the lawyer’s client and knows or reasonably should know that the document

or electronically stored information was inadvertently sent shall promptly notify the sender.

Comment

[1] Responsibility to a client requires a lawyer to subordinate the interests of others to those of

the client, but that responsibility does not imply that a lawyer may disregard the rights of third

persons. It is impractical to catalogue all such rights, but they include legal restrictions on methods

of obtaining evidence from third persons and unwarranted intrusions into privileged relationships,

such as the client-lawyer relationship. For example, present or former organizational employees

or agents may have information protected by the attorney-client evidentiary privilege or the work

product doctrine of the organization itself. If the person contacted by the lawyer has no authority to

waive the privilege, the lawyer may not deliberately seek to obtain the information in this manner.

[2] Paragraph (b) recognizes that lawyers sometimes receive a document or electronically stored

information that was mistakenly sent or produced by opposing parties or their lawyers. A document

or electronically stored information is inadvertently sent when it is accidentally transmitted, such

as when an email or letter is misaddressed or a document or electronically stored information

is accidentally included with information that was intentionally transmitted. If a lawyer knows

or reasonably should know that such a document or electronically stored information was sent

inadvertently, then this rule requires the lawyer to promptly notify the sender in order to permit that

person to take protective measures. Whether the lawyer is required to take additional steps, such as

returning the document or electronically stored information, is a matter of law beyond the scope of

these rules, as is the question of whether the privileged status of a document or electronically stored

information has been waived. Similarly, this rule does not address the legal duties of a lawyer who

receives a document or electronically stored information that the lawyer knows or reasonably should

know may have been inappropriately obtained by the sending person. For purposes of this rule,

“document or electronically stored information” includes, in addition to paper documents, email

and other forms of electronically stored information, including embedded data (commonly referred

to as “metadata”), that is subject to being read or put into readable form. Metadata in electronic

documents creates an obligation under this rule only if the receiving lawyer knows or reasonably

should know that the metadata was inadvertently sent to the receiving lawyer.

[3] Some lawyers may choose to return a document or delete electronically stored information

unread, for example, when the lawyer learns before receiving it that it was inadvertently sent.

Where a lawyer is not required by applicable law to do so, the decision to voluntarily return such a

document or delete electronically stored information is a matter of professional judgment ordinarily

reserved to the lawyer. See rules 32:1.2 and 32:1.4.