New Rules of the Nonprofit Road?: Attorney-Charity Confidentiality in PA

        The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has decided to consider an issue that could have far-reaching consequences for the way attorneys and charities interact.  The issue before the court is whether an attorney who has reason to believe that charitable assets are being diverted to private individuals may inform the Attorney General.  This issue deals with Rule 1.6 of the Rules of Professional Conduct, which permits breaching attorney-client confidentiality in very limited cases, e.g., to prevent death or serious bodily harm.   Not surprisingly, a cloud of secrecy has surrounded the case since late last year, and the order permitting consideration of this issue was only made public in March.  A recent article explores this case and its possible implications. 

 

        Interestingly, the petitioner’s argument is not based upon Rule 1.6 but rather on the idea that counsel has a fiduciary duty to report unlawful diversions of charitable assets to the Attorney General since the general public is affected.  In addition, the petitioner claims that since the charity is a tax-exempt entity supported by the public, it has waived its rights under Rule 1.6.  As pointed out in the article, Rule 1.13 is also relevant.  Rule 1.13 details the steps an attorney may take within an organization before going outside of it.  For example, an attorney may choose to report the matter to higher-ups within the organization.   As noted, attorney-client confidentiality serves an important purpose in our society.  Overall, we want to promote the seeking out of legal counsel when there is a problem, and this will not happen if potential clients are afraid their confidences will be shared.  As noted above, limited, dire circumstances must exist for an attorney to breach attorney-client confidentiality. 

 

            At the same time, one must ask whether the attorney-charity relationship calls for a different rule, particularly in the case of public charities.  After all, these charities are accountable to the public.  Also, given the recent problems associated with IRS oversight and the growing number of charities, attorneys may provide a more helpful, rather than hurting, hand in the quest to monitor an ever-increasingly large number of organizations. 

 

Khrista Johnson