Can a legal services program share client information with the agency that funds it, and may it report client statistics?
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This page answers the general question as of 1986. Ezel answers yours: whether it's allowed on your facts, under the current rules of professional conduct in your state, with citations.
Plain-English summary
The committee addressed whether a legal services program could share client information with the agency that contracted with it. It concluded that the program could not extend the attorney-client privilege to the contracting agency and could not disclose confidences or secrets of its clients without the clients' consent.
The committee drew one line in the program's favor. Statistical data and summary information could be provided to the contracting agency without client consent, provided that all means of client identification were removed from the disclosed information.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 1986, before the 2006 revisions to the Washington Rules of Professional Conduct. RPC 1.6 on confidentiality was later renumbered and amended. Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance. Verify against current rules before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or requirement mentioned here.
Common questions
Q: Can a legal services program share its clients' confidences with the agency that funds it?
A: No. The committee concluded the program could not disclose confidences or secrets of its clients without the clients' consent, and could not extend the attorney-client privilege to the contracting agency.
Q: Can the program report any data to the funding agency without consent?
A: Yes, in de-identified form. The committee said statistical data and summary information could be provided without client consent provided that all means of client identification were removed.
Background and rules framework
The opinion interprets Washington RPC 1.6 as it stood in 1986, the confidentiality rule (corresponding to Model Rule 1.6). The committee applied it to a legal services program's relationship with a contracting agency, distinguishing client confidences and secrets (not disclosable without consent) from de-identified summary and statistical data (disclosable without consent).
Citations and references
Rules of Professional Conduct:
- Washington RPC 1.6 (confidentiality of information), corresponding to Model Rule 1.6.
See also
- WSBA Ethics Op. 905: client confidences under a legal services contract
- WSBA Ethics Op. 843: confidentiality and a client's eligibility information
- WSBA Ethics Op. 1006: client confidences and an error in a sentencing court order
Source
- Landing page: https://ao.wsba.org/print.aspx?ID=84
Original opinion text
Reproduced from the official source for research purposes. The linked source is authoritative.
Advisory Opinion: 973
Year Issued: 1986
RPC(s): RPC 1.6
Subject: Client confidences; disclosure by legal services agency to contracting agency; summary and statistical data
The Committee was of the opinion that [a legal services program] could not extend the attorney-client privilege to [a contracting agency] and that it could not disclose confidences or secrets of its clients without the clients' consents. The Committee was of the opinion that statistical data and summary information could be provided to [the contracting agency] without client consent provided that all means of client identification were removed from the disclosed information.
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