ABSTRACT
The Duty of Confidentiality relates to the lawyer’s obligation to the client to preserve and protect the information shared with client in furtherance of a specific legal representation. This ethical duty is enforced by sanctions against the lawyer for violations. The rules regarding conflicts of interest are similarly designed to reinforce the lawyer’s duty of loyalty and client confidence. The guiding value in issues of confidentiality and conflict of interest issues should be to balance business interests and ethical compliance with the value of diligence to meeting the current client’s objectives of representation and preserving the trust of this client and future clients in the loyalty expected by the client from the lawyer. The conflict of interest rules, attorney/client privilege and the duty of confidentiality are not always used by lawyers and clients as a method to preserve the trust between a lawyer and client. The role of the large law firm in conflicts of interest is another challenging factor.
