Facts
The appellant [A.] and the attorney [C.] are in dispute over a fee claim from attorney activities. The Bar Association of the Canton of Bern exempted [C.] from professional secrecy in order to assert the fee claim in court. [A.] appealed against this decision to the Administrative Court of the Canton of Bern, which dismissed the appeal. [A.] then appealed to the Federal Court.
The parties are the appellant [A.] and the respondent [C.] , an attorney. The proceedings were conducted before the Administrative Court of the Canton of Bern and subsequently before the Federal Court. The decisions were made on 25 February 2016, 15 July 2016 and 6 January 2017.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined the admissibility of the appeal and came to the conclusion that it is admissible. It applied the law ex officio and examined the objections raised.
The court found that attorneys are subject to professional secrecy and that the judicial assertion of a fee claim requires prior exemption from secrecy. It assessed the relevant interests and came to the conclusion that the appellant does not demonstrate any personal interest in maintaining attorney-client privilege.
The court dismissed the appeal because the appellant did not specify any significant individual interest in confidentiality and the respondent's interest in exemption from professional secrecy prevailed. It also came to the conclusion that…