Law Practice Essentials

The Client Identification Rules are designed to ensure you know the identity of people or organizations that retain you to provide legal services.

The Client Verification Rules are more extensive and apply when lawyers are retained to provide legal services and engage in or give instructions with respect to the receipt, payment or transfer of funds. 

The Client Identification and Verification Rules are found in Rules 119.46 through 119.55 of the Rules of the Law Society of Alberta. These Rules require you to gather specific information about clients.

However, lawyers must also consider the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) S.A. 2003 c. P-6.5 which governs the collection, use and disclosure of personal information. PIPA also imposes obligations with respect to the safe storage and destruction of personal information. The Client Identification and Verification Rules must be read in the context of PIPA. 

This Module will review:

• the Client Identification Rules;
• the Client Verification Rules; and
• the impacts of PIPA on gathering personal information about clients.

Although we aim to present a comprehensive module, this module is not exhaustive and will only provide a basic overview of the Client Identification and Verification Rules. The Rules are detailed. You should review them when you encounter unusual situations. This Module is not a replacement for the Rules. 

This module is not a substitute for exercising professional judgment and does not constitute legal advice.