Olms interpretative Manual

ATTORNEY-CLIENTEXEMPTION

265.501LMRDA,SECTION204

Nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to require an attorney who is a memberin good standing of the bar of any State to include in any report required to be filed pursuant tothe provisions of this Act any information which was lawfully communicated to such attorney byanyofhisclientsinthecourseofalegitimateattorney-client relationship.

(State in the above section also includes any Territory or the District of Columbia.See 29CFR401.2.)

(Revised:Jan.2021)

265.502See29CFR 406.5
265.505ADVICEBYATTORNEY

If an attorney’s services are limited to advising the employer or to representing himbefore any court, administrative agency or tribunal of arbitration, such as the National LaborRelations Board, no report would be required by the Act.These activities are excluded from thereporting requirements by section 203(c) which also exempts reports of a consultant’s servicesby reason of his “engaging or agreeing to engage in collective bargaining on behalf of suchemployer with respect to wages, hours, or other terms or conditions of employment or thenegotiationofanagreementoranyquestionarisingthereunder.”

265.510ATTORNEYSPEECHESTOEMPLOYEES

Where an attorney is specifically hired to address employees and persuade them as to themanner of exercising their vote in a representation election, the agreement seems plainly to gobeyond the giving of advice to an employer.The free speech provisions of the Taft-Hartley Actare not impaired by the LMRDA; however, a report of such arrangements, notwithstanding theirlegality, would be required from the employer under section 203(a)(4) of the Act for employers,andunder section203(b)(1) of the Actfor the attorney.

265.520ATTORNEYENGAGINGIN203(b)ACTIVITIES

Section 204 of the Act exempts any attorney from including in any report required to befiled pursuant to the terms of the Act, information which was lawfully communicated to him byany of his clients in the course of a legitimate attorney-client relationship.This does not,however, exempt any attorney from filing a report pursuant to section 203(b) of the Act if heundertakesany of the activitiesreferredtotherein.