This article explores a subject that is only tangentially related to the Rules of Professional Conduct (unless a conflict of interest is involved), but which is central and critical to lawyers’ and law firms’ professional and business interests: What information about a new client does a lawyer need to obtain in order to make sensible decisions about whether or not to proceed? Two recent cases, one from New York and one from the U.K., have important lessons for lawyers, wherever they practice.
‘P&P Property’
In reviewing the English case, P&P Property v. Owen White & Catlin, 2016 WL 05484797 (UK High Ct. of Justice, Chancery Div. 2016), it is important to note that English lawyers operate within a regulatory framework that requires them to undertake detailed “know your client” investigations about prospective clients, based on U.K. anti-money laundering (AML) laws. In addition, if lawyers find that a prospective client may be seeking assistance to violate the AML laws, they are required to report their suspicions to the authorities—without regard to attorney-client confidentiality.
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