Disclosing Client Confidences - An Update

In the February 2003 edition of this Bulletin, I commented on the then recently issued "final" Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Rules on Standards of Professional Conduct for Attorneys. The "final" rules were not in fact final, because the SEC both had sought additional comments on the rules and had proposed, and sought comments on, a modified form of its controversial proposed "noisy withdrawal" rules. Since then, there has been no further word from the SEC about when and how a lawyer for a company or business executive is required or permitted to report client misconduct to a third party, including regulators and law enforcement authorities. But that does not mean all has been quiet. Significant changes have been made by the ABA to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct in this area and by international organizations wrestling with the role of lawyers in anti-money laundering compliance efforts.