Tips For Traveling Abroad With Confidential Information

As law firms and clients increasingly go global, attorneys are likewise finding that their practices are not constrained by borders. However, in today's environment, the act of crossing the border can by itself create some unexpected ethical issues.

Indeed, increased security at the borders has created potential conflicts between the disclosure of information demanded at the border and the protection of attorney-client privileged information. Specifically, upon reentering the United States, Customs and Border Protection (CPB) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents may seek to inspect an attorney's laptop computers, cellphones or other mobile electronic devices.

Because virtually all attorneys now use their mobile devices and computers as part of their practice, allowing a search of those devices could arguably amount to the unauthorized disclosure of confidential client information in violation of California Rule of Professional Conduct 1.6. Rule