The establishment of the attorney-client relationship carries with it certain obligations owed by the lawyer to the client, some of which are established by the contract of employment, others by the generally applicable law of the principal and agent, and yet others by the codes of ethics regulating lawyers’ conduct.
For example, just as the ethical codes expect a lawyer to perform with diligence, so, too, do the rules of agency require the lawyer to perform responsibly. Similarly, agency rules require agents to respect the confidences of their principals and to keep the principal [client] informed of all relevant developments and information, just as the rules of ethics [for lawyers] establish a system of attorney-client confidences and a requirement of attorney-client communications.
-The Ethical Family Lawyer, p. 69, Louis Parley, 1995 American Bar Association
