Ethics

Add this opinion to the growing list of bar opinions on whether a lawyer can look at the metadata contained in an adversary's electronic documents.  In the non-litigation context, the New York County Bar says that the answer should be no, essentially agreeing with the earlier New York State Bar Association opinion on the issue and disagreeing with the more recent ABA opinion.

As I've mentioned before, I think there needs to be a nuanced approach to the subject, and a simple "metadata is off limits" or "you can always look at metadata" approach is too simplistic.  I'm happy that the New York County Bar opinion is explicitly limited to the transactional context, as I think the argument against reviewing metadata is much stronger in that arena.