Research examines the implications of coercive control as psychological harm, questioning lawyer disclosure responsibilities.
I am currently conducting research to determine whether coercive control can be considered psychological harm for the purpose of the future harm exception to confidentiality and solicitor-client privilege. My research is supported by the OBA Fellowship in Legal Ethics and Professionalism Studies. In that research I’m determining whether a lawyer can disclose, but doing that research has provoked me to wonder whether a lawyer should disclose.
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Deanne Sowter (2025) studied this question.
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