WA Breach of Lawyers' Ethical Obligations?

[Lance Anderson]

Is it against the code of ethics for one lawyer to give unrelated information to another lawyer seeking information on a certain matter

 

[John R]

Hi Lance,
Are you able to provide some further information on the situation/context? This may include:

1. Was the information private or considered confidential?
2. What was the relationship between both lawyers (and I assume a third-party that is concerned in relation to legal ethics)?

 

[Lance Anderson]

Hi John
1. I believe information should have been private and confidential.
2. Lawyer one representing one party on a certain matter was given information from lawyer two representing second party in which lawyer one is not dealing with or is not expected to be dealing with.

 

[John R]

Hi Lance,
I'm unable to access the current WA Professional Conduct Rules for Solicitors (that said, you can review a copy of the 2008 version hosted by the Law Institute of Victoria). In summary:

1. Section 6 deals with a lawyer's duty of confidentiality and specifically, Rule 6.3 deals with when and how a lawyer can disclose confidential information;
2. If you believe that the information was confidential, you may want to first contact the lawyer/s to understand why they disclosed the confidential information; and
3. If you are dissatisfied with their response, you may consider contacting the WA Legal Professional Complaints Committee (LPCC).

Hope this helps. Please keep us updated with your progress.

 

[Lance Anderson]

Thanks John it does help I will pass info on