§ discipline

Disclose material information to client client

The lawyer must disclose to the client all material information of which they are aware concerning the matter, subject to the overriding duty of confidentiality and limited exceptions.

191 cases 49% strike-off avg suspension 20.4 mo avg fine 6,700 45 with dishonesty finding

How the codes express this duty

E&W Solicitors SRA Principles & Code CCS 6.4 strong 83 cases
6.4 Where you are acting for a client on a matter, you make the client aware of all information material to the matter of which you have knowledge, except when: ...

SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors, RELs and RFLs · 2019 · archived copy · official source ↗

E&W Barristers BSB Handbook gC51; rC17 partial 1 case
gC51 CD2 and Rules rC15.5 and rC17 require you, subject to Rule rC16, to put your client's interests ahead of your own and those of any other person. If you consider that your professional client, another solicitor or intermediary, another barrister, or any other person acting on behalf of your client has been negligent, you should ensure that your client is advised of this.

BSB Handbook · current · archived copy · official source ↗

Cayman Islands Legal Services Code 2026 R.5.2.1 strong
An attorney-at-law shall disclose to a client all information of which the attorney-at-law is aware which is material to that client's matter regardless of the source of the information, subject to the duty of confidentiality in R.5.1, which always overrides the duty to disclose

Cayman Islands Legal Services Code of Professional Conduct · 2026 · archived copy

AU Solicitors Solicitors' Conduct Rules Rule 7.1 partial 1 case
A solicitor must provide clear and timely advice to assist a client to understand relevant legal issues and to make informed choices about action to be taken during the course of a matter, consistent with the terms of the engagement.

Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules · 2015 (June 2026 compilation) · archived copy · official source ↗

AU Barristers Uniform Barristers Rules rr38-39 partial
A barrister must seek to assist the client to understand the issues in the case and the client's possible rights and obligations, sufficiently to permit the client to give proper instructions ... A barrister must inform the client or the instructing solicitor about the alternatives to fully contested adjudication of the case which are reasonably available to the client.

Legal Profession Uniform Conduct (Barristers) Rules · 2015 (as amended 14 May 2025) · archived copy · official source ↗

IE Solicitors Law Society Guide Ch3 — General (conflict of interest) strong
A solicitor owes a duty to a client to disclose all relevant information to them. This follows from the fact that the solicitor is the agent of the client, who is the principal. In practice, this means that a solicitor must be careful not to accept information that is to be kept confidential from the client.

Solicitor's Guide to Professional Conduct (Law Society of Ireland) · 4th ed. (2022) · archived copy · official source ↗

IE Barristers Bar Code of Conduct Rule 3.26 partial
Where a Barrister receives on behalf of a client an offer of settlement and the client is available for consultation and to instruct the Barrister, the Barrister, in the presence of the solicitor, shall inform the client fully of all the terms of the offer.

Code of Conduct for the Bar of Ireland · 2024 · archived copy · official source ↗

JM Attorneys Canons of Professional Ethics Canon IV(r) partial 105 cases
An Attorney shall deal with his client's business with all due expedition and shall whenever reasonably so required by the client provide him with all information as to the progress of the client's business with due expedition.

Legal Profession (Canons of Professional Ethics) Rules · 1978 (principal) · archived copy · official source ↗

JE Lawyers Law Society of Jersey Code R.2.2 strong
Members must disclose to a client... all information of which the member or their employee is aware which is material to that client's matter regardless of the source of the information, subject to: a) the duty of confidentiality in R.2.1, which always overrides the duty to disclose.

Law Society of Jersey Code of Conduct · 1 January 2017 · archived copy · official source ↗

ON Lawyers LSO Rules of Prof. Conduct r 3.2-2 commentary [1.1] strong
A lawyer has a duty of candour with the client on matters relevant to the retainer. This arises out of the rules and the lawyer's fiduciary obligations to the client. The duty of candour requires a lawyer to inform the client of information known to the lawyer that may affect the interests of the client in the matter.

Law Society of Ontario — Rules of Professional Conduct · current · archived copy · official source ↗

BC Lawyers BC Code r 3.2-2 strong
When advising a client, a lawyer must be honest and candid and must inform the client of all information known to the lawyer that may affect the interests of the client in the matter.

Code of Professional Conduct for British Columbia (BC Code) · 2017 · archived copy · official source ↗

NZ Lawyers Conduct & Client Care Rules r 7 strong
A lawyer must promptly disclose to a client all information that the lawyer has or acquires that is relevant to the matter in respect of which the lawyer is engaged by the client.

Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008 · SR 2008/214 · archived copy · official source ↗

SCO Solicitors LSS Standards of Conduct B1.9 partial 1 case
You must communicate effectively with your clients and others

Law Society of Scotland — Practice Rules 2011, Rule B1 (Standards of Conduct) · 2011 · archived copy · official source ↗

SG Lawyers Professional Conduct Rules 2015 no clear equivalent
HK Solicitors Solicitors' Guide Principle 8.03 strong
A solicitor is under a duty to pass on to his client and use all information which is material to the subject matter of the retainer regardless of the source of that information. There are, however, exceptional circumstances where such duty does not apply.

Hong Kong Solicitors' Guide to Professional Conduct (Volume 1) · current · archived copy · official source ↗

HK Barristers Bar Code of Conduct no clear equivalent

Cases dealing with this duty

Clear

191 decisions · link basis: found breached = a tribunal finding; rule cited = the mapped provision is cited in the decision; text match = high-precision text pattern

Duty classification does not yet cover every jurisdiction (Ontario, New Zealand and Singapore decisions are indexed but not yet duty-classified), so counts here understate those corpora.