The Ethical Boundaries of Attorney Whistleblowers

In recent years, federal legislation has encouraged attorneys to become whistleblowers. These rules are in tension with the lawyer's duties of confidentiality and avoiding conflicts predicated on attorney self-interest because they allow disclosure of client confidential information more broadly than do applicable ethics rules.

33 minute read February 28, 2014 at 11:00 PM
By
Lawrence S. Spiegel and Esther E. Bloustein
The Ethical Boundaries of Attorney Whistleblowers

In recent years, federal legislation has encouraged attorneys to become whistleblowers, first with the rules promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) that permit disclosure of client confidential information in certain circumstances and then with the additional whistleblower provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank) that create a financial incentive for disclosure of confidential information.

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