What is a lawyer’s duty of confidentiality to his or her clients?

British Columbia, Canada


The following excerpt is from HMTQ v. Imperial Tobacco Canada Limited, 2013 BCSC 1963 (CanLII):

Every lawyer owes a professional duty of confidentiality to his or her clients. When the professional relationship ends “the lawyer’s main duty to a former client is to refrain from misusing confidential information.” (Canadian National Railway v. McKercher, 2013 SCC 39, at para 23.)

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