WA Breach of Lawyers' Ethical Obligations?

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22 August 2014
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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

Well-Known Member
14 April 2014
689
174
2,394
Sydney
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)?
 
22 August 2014
3
1
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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

Well-Known Member
14 April 2014
689
174
2,394
Sydney
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.