Lawyers’ Duty of Professional Confidence to Clients under the Nigerian Legal System: An Overview by Muhammed Ndakudu Adam

ABSTRACT

The legal profession is one of the most regulated professions in Nigeria and the world at large. This is because of the sensitive nature of the professional services rendered by lawyers to their clients. In the course of rendering these services, information are made available to legal practitioners by their clients and in order to ensure security of this information, the laws have imposed a duty of professional confidence on Lawyers. This duty is so important that, except in permitted circumstances, a Lawyer is under no obligation to disclose whatever transpired between him and his client. He also has the duty to ensure that the information is not used to his personal advantage or to the advantage of another person who may be interested in such information. This is in furtherance of the duty of the Lawyer to act in the best interest of his client and not do anything that will jeopardize the interest of his client(s).

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