Professional Ethics: Duties, Confidentiality and the Court
Professional Ethics tests the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners 2007 (RPC), the Legal Practitioners Act, and the duties a Nigerian lawyer owes to the court, client, profession and public. The key skill is ranking those duties when they conflict.
Core duties
The duty to the court requires candour, no misleading the court, and no presenting false evidence. The duty to the client requires competence, confidentiality, loyalty, avoidance of conflicts of interest, and keeping client money in a separate client account. The duty to the profession prohibits advertising beyond permitted limits, sharing fees with unqualified persons, and charging contingency fees.
Confidentiality and privilege
Confidentiality is wider than legal professional privilege. Confidential information may be disclosed with consent, where required by law, or to prevent a crime. Privilege protects confidential communications between lawyer and client for legal advice and litigation, but not communications made to further a crime or fraud.
Worked example
L represents C in a civil suit. C admits to L that he fabricated a document already filed. L must not continue to rely on the document. L should advise C to correct the record; if C refuses, L must apply to withdraw, without disclosing the confidential admission. L cannot tell the court that C lied, because that would breach confidentiality, but L cannot present the false document. The duty to the court prevails over the client's instructions.
Traps
Do not confuse confidentiality with privilege; do not accept a contingency fee; do not act for both sides in a transaction; and remember that the duty to the court prevails over the client's instructions.