Question of ethics

Q I dealt with a personal injury claim where the client was expected to receive a large amount by way of damages.

The client had several creditors pressing for payment, and on instructions I gave each one an undertaking that he would be paid from the damages when I received the money.

My client has decided to change solicitors and he does not want me to tell the creditors in case they agitate for payment again.

Do I have a duty to the creditors?

A On the basis that the undertaking is conditional on your receiving the damages, the undertaking is effectively discharged as your client has terminated your retainer.

However, you will have to tell the creditors what has happened, see principle 18.14, page 357 of the Guide to the Professional Conduct of Solicitors, 1999, eighth edition.

Q I have just completed the purchase of an investment property and forwarded the transfer with the Particulars Delivered (PD) form to be stamped.

A third party has asked me for my buyer client's address.

When I explained about confidentiality, the third party said that as the information is included in the PD form, it is in the public domain so that confidentiality is not an issue.

Is that so?

A No.

The information is not public merely because it is in a document submitted to the Inland Revenue.

If your client is not prepared to permit disclosure, you cannot disclose his address unless the client's confidentiality is overridden, for example, by a court order.

Telephone hotline

The professional ethics telephone lines are open for general enquiries between 11am and 1pm, and 2pm and 4pm.

The lines are less busy in the afternoon.

Professional ethics takes emergency calls outside these hours, tel: 0870 606 2577.

Question of ethics is compiled by the Law Society's professional ethics guidance team.

Send questions for publication to Austin O'Malley, the Law Society, Ipsley Court, Berrington Close, Redditch B98 0TD; DX 19114 Redditch