What Are the Duties of Disclosure?
In any business or organization (including law offices), there are instances where employees or members have to exchange information among themselves or with clients. Whenever this is necessary, the employees and members have duties of disclosure. These fiduciary duties outline the obligations the employee or member has to other involved parties as data is transferred. These obligations are supported by the courts and are part of ethical business practice. Duties of disclosure apply any time information is exchanged in business, such as in lawsuits, contract development, sales marketing, medicine and insurance.
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Relevancy and Accuracy
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As indicated by the Bad Faith Insurance Claims website, the duty of disclosure involves providing information that is relevant. For example, a politician shouldn't provide a press release talking about his military record if reporters asked for data about the politician's stance on taxes. Irrelevant data clouds the objective parties are trying to address and makes it more difficult for those parties to handle rebuttals efficiently. Irrelevant data also can confuse the parties. Even if all data is relevant, data also must be accurate, as inaccurate data may sway others to take actions they would not otherwise initiate.
Honesty
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People must be honest as they disclose information. This means that the content they disclose should be true and verifiable. They also should provide correct information about how they obtained the data and the time it will take to gather the information. Honesty in disclosure also obligates people to avoid omitting or padding data to suit their own objectives.
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Timeliness
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People have to provide data to others in a timely way. Otherwise, the other parties may be unable to take appropriate actions in response to the data. For example, a lawyer may miss a filing deadline if other parties do not respond quickly to requests for supporting evidence. This aspect of the duty of disclosure ensures that progress does not stagnate.
Other Related Fiduciary Duties
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The duty of disclosure follows the guidelines for all fiduciary duties. This means that a person must act in good faith and not take advantage of others when disclosing information. A person also has to treat everyone fairly, meaning that all parties should have access to the data. An individual must be responsible with the data they handle. For example, they should not leave sensitive information unsecured. They should take measures to ensure that the data is not lost, such as backing files up on multiple drives or keeping logs of who has accessed original documents.
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References
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