CONFIDENTIA

LITY
Rule 3
Guideline 8
Presented By:
Kristen Carr
&
Kevin Chinedu
 3.01 Competence
3.02 Advising Clients
Rule 3 Duty to 3.03 Confidentiality
3.04 Conflicts of Interest – General
Clients 3.05 Conflict of Interest – Transfers
3.06 Transactions with Clients
3.07 Client Property
3.08 Withdrawal from Representation
 Confidential Information
Rule 3.03(1) states that:
(1) A paralegal shall, at all times, hold in strict confidence all information
concerning the business and affairs of a client acquired in the course
of their professional relationship and shall not disclose any such
information unless:
(a) expressly or impliedly authourized by the client;
(b) required by law or by order of a tribunal of competent
jurisdiction to do so;
(c) required to provide the information to the Law Society, or
(d) otherwise permitted by this rule.
Rule 3.03 Confidential
Information
(2) The duty of confidentiality under subrule (1)
continues indefinitely after the paralegal has ceased to
act for the client, whether or not differences have
arisen between them.

(3) The paralegal shall keep the client's papers and

other property out of sight, as well as out of reach, of
those not entitled to see them.
 GENERAL
Rule Reference 3.03(1)
1. A paralegal cannot render effective
professional service to a client, unless
there is full and unreserved
communication between them. The
client must feel completely secure that
all matters discussed with the paralegal
will be held in strict confidence. The
client is entitled to proceed on this
basis, without any express request or
stipulation.
2. A paralegal’s duty of loyalty to a
client prohibits the paralegal from
using any client information for a
purpose other than serving the client
in accordance with the terms of the
Guideline 8 retainer. A paralegal cannot disclose
client information to serve another

Confidentiality
client or for his or her own benefit.
Guideline 8
Continued…
WHAT INFORMATION MUST BE PROTECTED
Rule Reference 3.03(1)

3. The obligation to protect client information extends to

information whether or not it is relevant or irrelevant to the
matter for which the paralegal is retained. The source of the
information does not matter. The information could be
received from the client or from others. The information may
come in any form – the spoken word, paper, computer
documents, e-mails, audio or video recordings. The
obligation also extends to the client’s papers and property,
the client’s identity and the fact that the client has consulted
or retained the paralegal.
 4. A paralegal should be cautious in
accepting confidential information on an
informal or preliminary basis from
anyone, since possession of the
information may prevent the paralegal
from subsequently acting for another
party in the same or a related matter.

5. Generally, unless the nature of the

matter requires such disclosure, a
paralegal should not disclose having
been retained by a person about a
particular matter; or consulted by a
person about a particular matter,
whether or not a paralegal–client
relationship has been established
Guideline 8 between them
Guideline 8

HOW LONG DOES THE DUTY LAST?

Rule Reference 3.03(2)

6. The Rules provide that the duty of

confidentiality lasts indefinitely. The duty
continues, even after the client or former client
dies.

7. Problems can arise when information is

provided to a paralegal or a paralegal firm by a
prospective client. For lawyers, the duty to
protect confidential information begins when a
prospective client first contacts the lawyer or law
firm. The courts may determine that a paralegal
also owes a duty of confidentiality to prospective
clients, even if the paralegal is never actually
retained by the prospective client.
Guideline 8
WHO OWES THE DUTY?
Reference Rule 3.03(1) & (3)

8. The paralegal, and all other employees of

the paralegal firm, owe the duty
of confidentiality to every client. A paralegal
must ensure that his or her
employees, and anyone involved with the
client’s matter, understand the
duty of confidentiality as set out in the Rules.
The paralegal is ultimately
responsible, if someone employed by the
paralegal discloses confidential
information without client authorization or as
permitted by the Rules.
CONFIDENTIALITY
FACT SCENARIO
You are a student in a paralegal program at an Ontario
college. You are completing your field placement
requirement in the collections department at a law firm. You
have been given a lot of interesting work to do in collections,
and you have kept copies of many of the documents you
worked on to use as precedents.

You are chatting about field placements with some

classmates who are also on field placement one weekend.
They are impressed by your enthusiasm and the quality of
work that you are being given and ask if they can take a look
at your precedent binder. The four of you agree to meet for
lunch on the following weekend.

The binder contains demand letters, reporting letters, Small

Claims Court pleadings, and enforcement documents. At the
lunch meeting, your classmates look through these
documents with interest. They are particularly impressed by
some of the corporate clients you have done work for.
WHAT IS THE ISSUE?

Have I (the student)

breached the duty of
confidentiality?
Our Opinion As a Pair
(We aren’t a group)

YES! I have certainly

breached the duty
of confidentiality
Our Response to the Fact Scenario

 First, according to Guideline 8, paragraph 8, the

student is part of the firm and owes the same duty
of confidentiality that paralegals do under the
Paralegal Rules of Conduct and the Paralegal
Professional Conduct Guidelines.
 Rule 3.03(1) states that the paralegal SHALL hold in
strict confidence ALL information regarding clients
in the course of a professional relationship and
SHALL NOT disclose any information unless there
are certain circumstances (authourization by the
client, required by law or an order from a tribunal,
required by the LSO or otherwise permitted)
 The student shared client information without any
authorization to do so and therefore breached
confidentiality.
The binder contained demand letters,
reporting letters, Small Claims Court
proceedings, and enforcement documents of
clients/corporate clients.
Rule 3.03(3) states that the paralegal shall
keep the clients' papers and other property
out of sight and reach and away from people
who are not entitled to see them.
The law firm should have had a strict policy
regarding the client information contained in
this binder, and as a confidential measure,
should have ensured that the student not
have access to his binder outside of the
office.
The student breached confidentiality by
exposing the client information contained in
this binder to those who were not entitled to
see it.
• Rule 3.03(2) states that the duty of
confidentiality continues indefinitely
after the paralegal has ceased to act for
the client.
• Guideline 8, para. 6 also states that the
duty exists indefinitely, even after the
death of a client. (So – always!)
• Even though the information contained
in the binder are ‘precedent’ cases and
previous clients, the duty of
confidentiality is still owed.
• It should be noted that even when the
student ceases its placement in this law
firm, the student still owes the duty of
confidentiality and is not able to
discuss the client information.
• Guideline 8, para. 1 states that the
client should feel secure that all
matters discussed with the paralegal
will be held in confidence. Effective
professional service was not rendered
here because of the breach of
confidentiality.
• Guideline 8, para. 2 states that the
paralegal’s duty of loyalty to the client
prohibits the paralegal from using the
client information for a purpose other
than serving the client within the
terms of the retainer.
• The student was using the information
contained in the binder for a purpose
other than to serve the client and for
his/her own benefit.
• The student is also in breach of Guideline 8,
para. 3 and 5 as he/she had an obligation to
protect the client information whether the
material in the binder was relevant or
irrelevant to the matter for which the
paralegal is retained. The information that is
owed a duty of confidentiality pertains to
paperwork, property, identity, and any issue of
the retainer.
• Lastly, the paralegal of the firm also owes the
duty of confidentiality to every client. The
paralegal must ensure that the employees of
the firm and anyone involved in the matter
understands the duty, The paralegal is
ultimately responsible if someone in the firm
discloses confidential information without the
authourization to do so, under Guideline 8,
para. 8
Student Responses

ALL students
agreed that the
student
breached the
duty of
confidentiality in
the scenario
• The majority of students referred to Rule
3.03(1) regarding the duty owed and the
breach
• A few students referred to Rule 3.03(2)
regarding the duty being indefinite, but
almost half of the student referred to
Guideline 8, para. 8 indefinite clause
• 1/3 of the students referred to Rule 3.03(3)
regarding the requirement of the paperwork
of the client to be out of reach and sight
• A few students referred to Guideline 8, para 1
referencing the need for the client to feel
completely secure
• Almost half of the students referred to
Guideline 8, para 2 regarding not using the
client’s information for your own purpose
• A few students mentioned Guideline 8, para 3
and para 5 regarding not disclosing the
retainer information or any of the information
about the client, whether relevant or
irrelevant
• Almost half of the students referenced
Guideline 8, para 6 in reference to the student
being a member of staff of the law firm, and
that the paralegal is also responsible for the
breach of confidentiality as well.