News
Amendments to rule 4 of the Code of Conduct
26 July 2010
Amendments made to rule 4 of the Solicitors' Code of Conduct 2007 and the accompanying guidance have now been approved by the Legal Services Board and are in force.
The amendment extends the circumstances in which firms can act with the use of an information barrier where the confidential information of one client might otherwise be at risk because of instructions from a new client which has an interest adverse to the other client. The rule formerly only allowed a firm to complete work already started for a client using an information barrier; the amendment allows firms to accept new instructions where it is apparent at the outset that there is adversity between the clients, and confidentiality could be at risk.
Acting with the use of an information barrier to protect confidential information remains subject to stringent conditions in the rule including the requirement that the safeguards used in setting up and operating the information barrier must comply with the law. Most firms will not have the infrastructure to set up legally compliant information barriers and they should, therefore, continue to be used with extreme caution.
View rule 4.05 with 13 July 2010 changes highlighted
View guidance to rule 4 with 13 July 2010 changes highlighted