Lawcovernotes May 2013

Peak hour consultations Be careful where you practise - you never know who is watching or listening! Notes Cautionary The example below is true but was not the subject of a LawCover claim. It is a timely reminder to solicitors of their professional and ethical duties in the current age of the mobile office. Earlier this year, I was travelling to work on a peak hour train. A young lady climbed down the stairs armed with a file of papers tied up with a neat pink bow, mobile phone in hand. The pink bow caught my attention. She sat under the stairs, untied the pink bow on the file and spread the papers neatly across the chair opposite. From where I was sitting I could not read the contents of the file (others could!) but given what then occurred that was not the issue! The young lady then used her mobile phone to call her client. She had trouble getting through to him and his name was repeated loudly and spelled for the benefit of the receptionist (and the entire carriage!) to hear. The solicitor then advised her client what had happened in closed court the day before. The client’s name was easily overheard as were the names of the other parties and the orders made. Fellow passengers could not believe their ears and looks were exchanged around the carriage! The young solicitor was oblivious. The consequences to the young solicitor’s reputation and employment status could have been dire had the client been aware of what had occurred and made a formal complaint. Your clients are entitled to confidentiality and privacy. Rule 2 in the Solicitors’ Rules makes clear that there is a duty to keep confidential information obtained from or on behalf of a former client in the same way that the duty is owed to a current client. That duty of confidentiality survives the termination of the retainer. With mobile phones, laptops and iPads now commonplace and routinely used on public transport and in other public areas where solicitors may conduct their business - please consider who might be reading over your shoulder or who might be listening to your mobile phone conversation. The same applies to uncovered trolleys and folders heading off to court and files being carried in public. Facebook is an issue for another day! Jennifer Baker Claims Solicitor