Disclosure of Client Alias in Workers' Compensation Action
Adopted: April 25, 2008
Opinion rules that lawyer representing an undocumented worker in a workers' compensation action has a duty to correct court documents containing false statements of material fact and is prohibited from introducing evidence in support of the proposition that an alias is the client's legal name.
Inquiry:
In a workers' compensation action, what duties does a lawyer have to the court if the lawyer learns that his client, who is an undocumented worker, has been using an alias and that the court documents have been filed under the alias rather than the client's legal name?
Opinion:
The protection of client confidences is one of the most significant responsibilities imposed on a lawyer. Rule 1.6(a) of the Rules of Professional Conduct provides that a lawyer shall not reveal information acquired during the professional relationship with a client unless (1) the client gives informed consent; (2) the disclosure is impliedly authorized; or (3) one of the exceptions set out in Rule 1.6(b) applies. One of the exceptions set out in Rule 1.6(b) allows a lawyer to reveal confidential information to the extent the lawyer reasonably believes necessary to comply with the Rules of Professional Conduct. Rule 1.6(b)(1).
Rule 3.3(a)(1) prohibits a lawyer from knowingly making a false statement of material fact to a tribunal and requires a lawyer to correct any false statement of material fact previously made. Whether a lawyer has a duty under Rule 3.3 that would require the lawyer to breach a client's confidences to correct previously filed court documents depends on whether the documents contain false statements of material fact.
If the client's name is an issue of material fact in the workers' compensation action, then the lawyer has a duty to correct the filed court documents. The North Carolina Workers' Compensation Act applies to "every person engaged in an employment under any appointment or contract of hire or apprenticeship, express or implied, oral or written, including aliens, and also minors, whether lawfully or unlawfully employed." N.C.G.S. §97-2. Arguably, the fact that the lawyer's client is an undocumented worker would not affect the client's right to compensation under the Act. On the other hand, issues of credibility may affect the client's action. A determination of the materiality of the client's use of an alias in a workers' compensation action is a legal question outside the purview of the Ethics Committee.
Before taking any necessary remedial measures, the lawyer should advise the client of the lawyer's duty of candor to the tribunal and seek the client's cooperation with respect to the correction of the false statements in the filed court documents.
Materiality does not affect the lawyer's duty to refrain from offering false evidence in the future. Rule 3.3(a)(3) provides that a lawyer shall not offer any evidence that the lawyer knows to be false. Therefore, the lawyer would be prohibited from introducing any evidence in support of the proposition that the alias is the client's true name, including the client's own testimony. See RPC 33. If the client cannot agree to the lawyer's proposed terms of the continued representation, the lawyer must seek to withdraw from the action in accordance with Rule 1.16.