In principle, the duty of confidentiality includes all letters or other documents and data carriers entrusted to the lawyer in his capacity as a lawyer.
Documents received by the lawyer in a different capacity are not covered by the duty of confidentiality.
He may under certain circumstances remain liable to the client for breach of his duty of confidentiality.
In principle, the duty of confidentiality includes all letters or other documents and data carriers entrusted to the lawyer in his capacity as a lawyer.
Documents received by the lawyer in a different capacity are not covered by the duty of confidentiality.
Even when acting jointly on behalf of a client, it is recommended that the lawyer and tax adviser open and maintain their own file, with a view to the mutual confidentiality obligation and the lawyer's right of nondisclosure.
Reference is made to line 2 (and 4).
Conflicts of interest
The Professional Practice Regulations of the Dutch Association of Tax Advisers do not contain any rules on conflicts of interest.
This is due to the fact that the tax advisor usually finds only one counterparty (the state) in his professional practice.
Reference is made to rule 3.
Professional Liability Insurance
The potential liability and insurance thereof for tax advisers are in most cases many times higher than that for lawyers.
This applies in particular to those tax advisers who are members of larger international partnerships, in whatever cases the professional liability insurance of these international associations applies.
It is recommended to take into account the higher risks, for example by taking out separate professional indemnity insurance.
Explanation: a tax adviser must ensure that the risk of his professional liability is covered by adequate insurance (Article 10 of the Professional Practice Regulations of the Dutch Association of Tax Advisers).
It does not seem necessary to establish a rule for this.
Patent Attorneys - General
According to the code of conduct for the patent attorney, the patent attorney must first of all be expert and reliable (Article 1c Code of Conduct, see his comment is here, rules of conduct).
A patent attorney is subject to disciplinary law (article 23f ROW).
The patent attorney has a duty of confidentiality with regard to everything of which he becomes aware as such by virtue of his activities.
This obligation also applies to a person who works under his responsibility and continues to exist after the end of the work in question (Article 23b (4) ROW).
The activities of a patent attorney cover the entire field of industrial property law (IP) as defined in Article 1 of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, and include the preparation and defense of IP applications.
Rights and oppositions to IP rights, and advising clients on the strategy for obtaining, holding, and exploiting IP rights.
Including involvement in IPR infringement and invalidity actions, and the formation, performance, and enforcement of agreements in the IP field.
It follows from legal history that this duty of confidentiality entails a right of non-disclosure (privilege).
A patent attorney has no right of non-disclosure with regard to the taxation of third parties (see
Article 53a, paragraph 1, General Taxation Act) because tax matters are simply not part of the activities of a patent attorney.
In view of the above, it is recommended to keep separate files and to keep the financial administration separate from the files.