ELECTRONIC JAIL VISTS UP AND RUNNING

UPDATE: Social Distancing IN Michael Avenatti: OUT- The controversial soon to be ex-lawyer has been release from custody in NYC. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has ushered new changes into our world.
In: Masks  Out: Handshakes; In: Hand sanitizer; Out: Free samples of food at Costco; In: Six feet of distancing; Out: Sporting events, concerts, dining at counters.

IN: Electronic visitation with inmates in the Miami Dade Correctional System;
OUT: Attorney Client Privilege during those meetings. See below.

First: Here are the documents YOU NEED to sign up. True- it's easier to obtain FDA Compassionate use approval for an experimental drug then signing up for electronic visitation, but what else do you have to do during these days of isolation?

Memorandum: All you need to know about electronic visitation including that the visits WILL BE MONITORED,WHICH EVERY LAWYER KNOWS MEANS THE COMMUNICATIONS WILL NOT BE PRIVILEGED. (For our robed readers who may be a bit confused, we will explain below).

Next you need A Registration Guide. It's not Sacagawea, but it will do. 

And then you need your Application: 

PRIVILEGE
For our non-legal readers, and those who wear robes to work,  the attorney-client privilege is not applicable when the information is in the hands of a third party and/or the parties know that a non-attorney or client are part of the discussion. "Information in the hands of a third party is not covered by the attorney-client privilege." State v. Investigation, 802 So. 2d 1141, 1145 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001). 
Therefore, everything said during the electronic communication can be disclosed by the person listening in. 

Topics Rumpole suggests for conversations with clients, since they are not privileged include: The State Attorney Election; The identification and potential use of split infinitives; whether to quickly file motions to suppress or not (hint- this sentence has a split infinitive); and fine dinning in Hialeah. What you cannot discuss is the case. So have fun with electronic visitation with  your client, although you should not risk legal discussions, lest you have a prosecutor introduce the corrections officer who monitored the confession "And then he said, I did it but it was an accident."

Coming Sunday: Typewriters, Word, and Covid-19.