Sensitivity Of Client's Information

| Saturday, September 24, 2011
By Sophia Sullivan


The essential thought of a lawyer along with the relevance of client confidentiality are evident to even probably the most unaware person. If the client wants the information to be revealed or the lawyer is forced to do so by law, the situation is an exception to the code of conduct. For a strong case to be built around the defense of the client, the lawyer needs to know his darkest secrets as well. Clients should feel they can confide in their lawyer and the rule is there to protect them. The contents of this rule are very widespread. Furthermore, even the professional relationship between a lawyer and a client must remain confidential.

The confidentiality agreement stays in place even after the lawyer has wound up his commitment to the client. Along with keeping the identity of the client a secret, details of his case still must be kept secretive. If inside a small town, uncovering the face of the client is never a hard task.

However, the rule clearly states that if a lawyer finds the information leading to a crime, he can reveal it. For example, the lawyer can blow the lid off if the client tells him he intends to steal a car.

If, however, the crime could involve violence, the lawyer is absolutely required to reveal the information to the proper authorities. If the client intends to loot a bank, the police needs to be called. Such a situation makes public security more important that the right to secrecy.

A client, who acknowledges a past crime to a lawyer, puts the lawyer in a difficult situation. By virtue of the time lag and the act of crime already successful, the rule demands the lawyer to maintain his silence since he cannot prevent it now. The situation worsens if a client robs a bank and then immediately confides with his lawyer.

A particular incident brought this to everybody's attention. A lawyer had video footage which could have got a murder victim arrested but he chose to keep it hidden for seventeen months. The Law Society of Upper Canada needed to take a look into the features of the confidentiality rule in the code of conduct because of this controversy.

Although the lawyer is permitted to share the information with his office staff he must establish that the information is not leaked from there. The court files are made available to the public in most cases which many lawyers do not take into account. These court documents should therefore not contain any information which needs to kept away from the general public.

It hiding the information is in the personal interest of the lawyer then it is not treated as a part under the confidentiality rule. The lawyer's code of conduct prohibits their autobiographies from containing any information which may embarrass their clients. Fiction is therefore the lawyer's preferred genre.




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