A recent Appeal Court ruling has given fresh guidance on a solicitor’s obligation to clients to reveal information that was given in confidence.
In dismissing a property developers negligence claim against his solicitor, the court has made it clear that a solicitor’s duty to disclose information depends upon the nature and terms of his retainer.
The court has emphasised that a solicitor is under no obligation to disclose to a later client confidential information obtained under a retainer from a former client.
The case centred upon a claim by property developer Ian Hilton against Blackpool solicitor Barker Booth and Eastwood (BBE).
Hilton claimed that BBE, which had acted both for him and for Mr Neil Bromage in respect of a property development, should have informed him of the fact that Mr Bromage: had been in prison; had been bankrupt; intended to effect an immediate subsale of the development property; and had no financial substance.
However, the courts have held that the only duty breached by BBE was its duty to refuse to act for Hilton. The court found that this breach of duty had caused Hilton no loss, on the basis that there was no suggestion that he would have discovered the relevant facts and acted differently if another firm of solicitors had acted for him.
In guidance for solicitors facing similar situations, the Court of Appeal said that where a solicitor acted for more than one party in a transaction, he might be obliged to disclose information obtained in that transaction from one client to the other.
However, in this case, although the information about Bromage was relevant, the solicitor was under no duty to disclose it as it had been gained as a result of defending Bromage on an earlier criminal charge. In the circumstances, the solicitor should have declined to act for Hilton.
Hilton v Barker Booth & Eastwood Court of Appeal (Sir Andrew Morritt V-C and Judge and Jonathan Parker LJJ) 22 May 2002.
Charles Machin (instructed by John Budd & Co, of Blackpool) appeared for the appellant; Christopher Gibson QC and Ian Wood (instructed by James Chapman & Co, of Manchester) appeared for the respondent.
PLS News 24/5/02
