Welcome > ADMA > Your Enquiry > Client Identification & Verification > Criminal activity, duty to withdraw
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In brief: If, in the course of obtaining the information and taking the steps required in Part 3, Division 11 of the Law Society Rules or any other time while retained by a client, you know or ought to know that you are or would be assisting a client in fraud or other illegal conduct, you must withdraw from representation. Subject to the exceptions permitted by law, if the reason for the withdrawal results from confidential communications between you and the client, you must not disclose the reason for withdrawal unless the client consents.
Rules - Criminal activity, duty to withdraw: Law Society Rule 3-109.
Code - Dishonesty, fraud by client: BC Code rules 3.2-7 to 3.2-8.
Code - Optional withdrawal: BC Code rule 3.7-2.
Code - Obligatory withdrawal: BC Code rule 3.7-7(b).
Code - Confidentiality regarding reason for withdrawal: BC Code rule 3.7-9.1.
Practice Resource - Red Flags Quick Reference Guide
Practice Resource - Anti-Money Laundering Webinar: See in particular 1:48.
Practice Resource - Fraud 101 for Lawyers, Fall 2021 Benchers’ Bulletin (p. 10).
Practice Resource - Canadian Sanctions Related to Russia and Belarus: Implications for the Legal Profession, Federation of Law Societies of Canada (April 2022)
Practice Resources - Risk Assessment Case Studies for the Legal Profession (2020) and Risk Advisories for the Legal Profession (2019).
Code - Confidentiality: BC Code section 3.3
Code - Withdrawal: BC Code section 3.7.
Practice Resources: Discipline Advisories (See especially: Country/geographic risk (2021), Securities fraud: Micro-cap stocks (2020), Private lending (2019), and Lawyers are Gatekeepers (2018)).
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