Using Email - Email Disclosure

As used in the following disclosure, "we" or "us" refers to Sharp, Jahn, Feilmeyer, Feilmeyer & Keenan, plc, Attorneys at law, 618 Douglas Avenue, P.O. Box 270, Ames, IA 50010-0270 USA, and "you" refers to the client, potential client, or other person reading this document.

THE USE OF ELECTRONIC MAIL BETWEEN LAWYER AND CLIENT

The Iowa Supreme Court Board of Professional Ethics and Conduct, which regulates certain aspects of the practice of law by Iowa lawyers, issued Opinion 97-01, which states, in relevant part: “[W]ith sensitive material to be transmitted on e-mail counsel must have written acknowledgment by client of the risk of violation of DR 4-101 which acknowledgment includes consent for communication thereof on the Internet ....” DR 4-101, referred to in the above quotation, is a rule of conduct for Iowa lawyers which, among other things, states: “(C) A lawyer may reveal: (1) Confidences or secrets with the consent of the client or clients affected, but only after a full disclosure to them. ...”

DISCLOSURE RE: POSSIBLE REVELATION OF CLIENT CONFIDENCES

We do not intend to disclose client confidences by use of email. Unencrypted email, however, typically is in a “plain text,” human-readable format. A person not authorized by you or by us could read the contents of an unencrypted email message. Such person may do so, for example, by gaining access to the electronic files in a storage device on or the memory of a computer operated by our Internet service provider (“ISP”), by your ISP, or at some intermediate computer whose function is to relay messages between our ISP and your ISP. Consequently, matters communicated by unencrypted email considered as “sensitive,” confidential, or privileged could be revealed to others. This is a summary of potential risks. There may be other risks of disclosure not known to us.

Although we believe we have reasonable and adequate safeguards with our own computer systems, we make no guaranty that our ISP has sufficient security measures to prevent access by persons other than us to computer storage and memory that are assigned to us, nor do we guaranty the security of any intermediate relay computer or your ISP. While our personal opinion is that the risk of disclosure is relatively low, you may not rely on this. You must make an independent assessment of the adequacy of all security measures in place to protect any sensitive, confidential, or privileged information and your acceptance of the risk of disclosures of information deemed sensitive, confidential, or privileged. Resolve any doubt you may have against using this form of communication.

If you are not already a client, do not send any confidential or sensitive information. We have no duty to you until we have established an attorney-client relationship. You must contact us by means other than e-mail to retain our services. Please also note that we are licensed to practice law in the State of Iowa and not in other states.

OPTIONS RE: USE OF ELECTRONIC MAIL

Option 1. If you accept the risk of disclosure of your sensitive, confidential, or privileged information by communicating via the Internet with unencrypted e-mail, print this document and sign the statement at the end of this message and return it to us by regular mail, personal delivery, or fax.

Option 2. If you do not accept the risk of disclosure, but you still wish to use e-mail, we must arrange a method of encryption of messages. A detailed discussion of the types and methods of encryption is beyond the scope of this Disclosure. Further details on how to implement this option may be reviewed on the the Security Page, which is incorporated herein as if set out fully.

Option 3. If you do not accept the risk of disclosure and you do not wish to encrypt e-mail, we must not use e-mail as a method of communication.

CLIENT'S ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND CONSENT

The client acknowledges the disclosures made herein. The client has made adequate investigation of and accepts the risks of disclosure of unencrypted e-mail. The client consents to the use of unencrypted e-mail.