Core idea of Rule 1.18 duties to prospective clients?

• A. Protecting information obtained from prospective clients and addressing conflicts if representation is pursued or avoided
• B. Automatically starting representation after a single contact
• C. Releasing all information to public media
• D. Treating all prospective clients as existing clients

Answer: (A)

The key idea is that discussions with a person who is considering hiring you create duties of confidentiality and potential conflict avoidance. Anything you learn from a prospective client must remain confidential, even if no formal attorney–client relationship is ever formed. At the same time, if you later represent someone in the same matter who has adverse interests, you may be disqualified from that representation if the information obtained from the prospective client could be significantly harmful to them—unless the prospective client gives informed consent (often in writing) after full disclosure of the potential conflicts.

That’s why protecting information and carefully handling conflicts are the essence of duties to prospective clients. The other options don’t fit: representation isn’t automatic after one contact; you wouldn’t release information to the public; and prospective clients aren’t automatically treated as existing clients unless you actually represent them.