Opinion ID: 2639202
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Post-Filing Disclosures

Text: Bryan next takes issue with the panel's conclusion in Conclusion of Law ¶ 19 that he was not authorized to reveal the existence of his defamation suit against Eichenwald and that he possessed negative information regarding Eichenwald's credibility. In essence, Bryan argues that once this information was found to have been properly disclosed, all subsequent disclosures were appropriate. Bryan asserts that information previously disclosed to the general public in court pleadings does not retain any confidentiality that would prohibit subsequent disclosure of that information. In support, he cites State v. Spears, 246 Kan. 283, 287, 788 P.2d 261 (1990), where this court recognized that under K.S.A. 60-426 a partial waiver of the attorney-client privilege constitutes a complete waiver of the privilege as to the entire subject matter. Bryan contends that the Disciplinary Administrator is `picking and choosing' and is incorrectly fixed on the use of the information that was properly disclosed rather than the fact the information had been properly disclosed. The Disciplinary Administrator disagrees with Bryan's assertions that he was entitled to reveal the information because it was already a matter of public record, distinguishing Spears from the facts of this case. Spears involved attorney-client privilege rather than the ethical rule on confidentiality. The Comment to KRPC 1.6 states: The principle of confidentiality is given effect in two related bodies of law, the attorney-client privilege (which includes the work product doctrine) in the law of evidence and the rule of confidentiality established in professional ethics. The attorney-client privilege applies in judicial and other proceedings in which a lawyer may be called as a witness or otherwise required to produce evidence concerning a client. The rule of client-lawyer confidentiality applies in all situations other than those where evidence is sought from the lawyer through compulsion of law. The confidentiality rule applies not merely to matters communicated in confidence by the client but also to all information relating to the representation, whatever its source. A lawyer may not disclose such information except as authorized or required by the Rules of Professional Conduct or other law. The attorney-client privilege is narrowly defined by the courts because it works to deprive the factfinder in a case of otherwise relevant information. See State ex rel. Stovall v. Meneley, 271 Kan. 355, 373, 22 P.3d 124 (2001). The ethical requirement of confidentiality is, however, interpreted broadly, with the exceptions being few and narrowly limited. Thus, Bryan's reliance upon Spears is misplaced. The Disciplinary Administrator contends that even though Bryan was entitled to place into the public record this same information in filing his defamation suit, Eichenwald had an expectation of confidentiality that would prohibit Bryan from divulging the information in her malpractice action against Small. The Disciplinary Administrator cites for support NCK Organization Ltd. v. Bregman, 542 F.2d 128 (2d Cir. 1976), (ORG), and Kaufman v. Kaufman, 63 App. Div. 2d 609, 405 N.Y.S.2d 79 (1978). In ORG, defense counsel was disqualified after the plaintiff filed a motion to disqualify. Defense counsel had previously conferred with an individual who was the former vice president and former in-house counsel for the plaintiff, who later also became counsel for the defendant, regarding the defendant's contract rights against the plaintiff. The defendant's contract rights were the subject of the dispute between the plaintiff and the defendant. The ORG court held: The confidential nature of the information to which [the attorney] had access in his fiduciary capacity as house counsel is not dependent upon whether it was secret from or known to [the defendant] as a corporate officer and director. As the court, strictly to be sure, explained in Emle Industries, Inc. v. Patentex, Inc., [478 F.2d 562, 572-73 (2d Cir. 1973)], quoting from H. Drinker, Legal Ethics 135 (1953): `(T)he client's privilege in confidential information disclosed to his attorney is not nullified by the fact that the circumstances to be disclosed are part of a public record, or that there are other available sources for such information, or by the fact that the lawyer received the same information from other sources.' The Code itself in Ethical Consideration (EC) 4-4 notes that `(t)he attorney-client privilege is more limited than the ethical obligation of a lawyer to guard the confidences and secrets of his client. This ethical precept, unlike the evidentiary privilege, exists without regard to the nature or source of information or the fact that others share the knowledge. . . .' Even if, as [the attorney] asserted, all confidential information to which he as house counsel had access was independently known to [the defendant] from his own employment or from another source, ORG's privilege in this information as disclosed to its attorney . . . is not thereby nullified. 542 F. 2d at 133. In Kaufman, the plaintiff in a matrimonial proceeding contended that the defendant's attorney had a conflict of interest. Defense counsel had previously represented the plaintiff in a different matrimonial proceeding and was privy to all the facts and circumstances surrounding the plaintiff's financial and matrimonial problems. The Kaufman court dismissed the attorney's claim that all the information he received was from public records, relying upon ORG, and remanded the issue for an evidentiary hearing on whether there was a conflict of interest. 63 App. Div. 2d at 610. Bryan argues that these cases have no application to the facts of this case because neither case involves the self-defense exception to confidentiality or the rights of and obligations to an innocent third party such as Worthington. Bryan contends that it is absurd to think that Eichenwald maintained an expectation of confidentiality after he filed open court pleadings in the defamation action against Eichenwald. Bryan asserts that in this case Eichenwald's privilege of confidentiality was nullified by the exceptions set out in KRPC 1.6(b)(3). Although ORG and Kaufman involve different facts, the cases are relevant because they address the survival of the ethical duty of confidentiality in instances where the information was available through other sources. The Comment to KRPC 1.6 states: A lawyer may not disclose [information relating to the representation] except as authorized or required by the Rules of Professional Conduct or other law. Bryan's disclosures in the motion and reply involved information related to the representation but were not reasonably necessary to defend against his claim of defamation.