§7.8 CONFIDENTIALITY IN SPECIFIC SITUATIONS
Client perjury and motions to withdraw can create dilemmas about disclosing client information. They are discussed below.
(1) Client perjury or other false evidence
As discussed in §7.6(2), above, RPC 3.3 requires a lawyer to disclose a material fact to the court to avoid knowingly assisting a criminal or fraudulent act by the client and to disclose if the lawyer learns that material evidence offered was false, but only if an exception to RPC 1.6 applies. If the lawyer knows the client intends to commit perjury, the exception in RPC 1.6(b)(2) to prevent a client from committing a crime applies, and the lawyer may have a duty under RPC 3.3(a)(2) to reveal this to the court. However, especially in the criminal context, Washington cases indicate that the lawyer must have a firm factual basis for believing the client intends to commit perjury and must try to dissuade the client from doing so before revealing client information
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to the court. State v. James 48 Wn. App. 353, 366-68, 739 P.2d 1161 (1987); see also State v. Fleck, 49 Wn. App. 584, 586-87, 744 P.2d 628 (1987) review denied, 110 Wn.2d 1004 (1988). If that effort fails, the attorney should notify the trial court, in camera, of the basis for the lawyer's belief. State v Berrysmith, 87 Wn. App. 268, 279, 944 P.2d 397 (1997), review denied, 134 Wn.2d 1008 (1998). The lawyer should resolve any doubt in the client's favor. In re Personal Restraint of Cross, 180 Wn.2d 664, 707, 327 P.3d 660 (2014), abrogated on other grounds by State v. Gregory, 192 Wn.2d 1, 427 P.3d 621 (2018).| Note: | RPC 3.3, Candor Toward the Tribunal, only applies if the lawyer acts |
