Statement Re: Ruling of Judge Reggie B. Walton, Over Application to Lawyers of Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act Privacy Provisions

Chicago, May 3, 2004 – The public interest prevailed Friday when the United States District Court for the District of Columbia agreed with the ABA that “Congress did not intend for the [Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act's ] privacy provisions to apply to attorneys ” who provide financially-related legal services. The District Court’s ruling came as the result of a lawsuit filed by the ABA against the Federal Trade Commission, which was decided along with a similar suit filed by the New York State Bar Association. The ABA’s lawsuit arose from its concern that the FTC’s requirement that lawyers send privacy notices to their clients was unnecessary in light of state regulation of the legal profession and would create misunderstanding about the more stringent confidentiality rules that govern the traditional lawyer-client relationship.