Under the Rules of Professional Conduct, is the information being sought by the Legislature confidential?
Under Rule 4-1.6, Rules Regulating The Florida Bar, all information that relates to a client’s representation is confidential and may not be disclosed voluntarily without the client’s consent, unless certain limited exceptions apply. None of the exceptions to the confidentiality rule are applicable to disclosure of compensation for lobbying services. Therefore, the information relating to the compensation is confidential. Q: If the information is confidential, how can I disclose it to comply with the statute? A: Lawyers who are lobbyists must obtain the consent of each client for whom the lawyer performs lobbying services as defined in the statute in order to comply with the statute’s disclosure requirements. The lawyer should seek consent to disclose only the information that is covered by the legislation and should assure the client that the lawyer will disclose no information that is not required to be disclosed by the statute. Q: How do I obtain clients’ consent? A: For new clients
