LEV471 … even the historical context of traditional Jewish law did not raise the question of special privacy requirements for professionals, in our day we may apply its concern for the general welfare to protect professional – client confidentiality. So, for example, if a lawyer knows that a client has a criminal record of fraud, (this verse, "Do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor") would seem to require the lawyer to warn any of the client's potential business partners of the extra risks involved in doing business with him or her. Because society needs legal services, though, and because people will seek the aid of an attorney only if they can be assured of confidentiality, we may interpret Jewish law as permitting – – or even insisting--that the lawyer keep quiet about the client's past. That clearly impinges on the potential partners' welfare, for they may be taking on a larger level of risk than they realize or want to; but the need of the community for legal help and for confidentiality in attaining that help may outweigh the partners' individual or collective well-being. In interpreting Jewish law in this way, I am narrowing the domain of (this verse) to exclude professionals who are keeping confidences made known to them in their professional roles. (Cohen (1984), 224-227, takes this position and I agree with it). On the other hand, if there is no practical need to reveal negative facts about a person, disclosing them is itself a sin. (Continued at [[NUM168]] Numbers 15:32 man DORFFLOV 65).