A Rule 1.6 Lesson

An interesting public censure imposed by the New Hampshire Professional Conduct Committee involves a violation of the attorney ‘s duty of confidentiality.

The attorney represented a  condominium association in claims against the builder for alleged construction defects. The association’s claims resulted in a confidential settlement.

The settlement amount was deducible from a review of publicly-available documents. The attorney was aware of that fact.

He also represented five individuals with claims against the same defendant. 

The attorney disclosed the settlement amount to one of the individual clients with claims against the defendant. That disclosure came to light during the deposition of the client.

The defendants sued the condo association and the attorney for breach of the settlement confidentiality provision. He entered an appearance in the matter but withdrew in light of the conflict between himself and the client.

Opposing counsel filed the bar complaint.

In the bar case, he acknowledged that he misunderstood that confidentiality applies even if the information may be gleaned from the public record. 

The board found his state of mind was one of negligence. (Mike Frisch)