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Lawyer Fined For Outing Rowling's Pen Name

MIAMI(CBSMiami) -- A lawyer has been fined for outing J.K. Rowling 's thriller pen name.

J.K. Rowling is best known for writing the Harry Potter series.

According to our news partners The Miami Herald, the lawyer was fined 1,000 pounds, an estimated $1,645 for breaching client confidentiality rules.

Chris Gossage of the London law firm  Russells Solicitors which represents the writer told his wife's friend Rowling had authored the book "The Cuckoos Calling," under the pen name Robert Galbraith. That friend tweeted the information which was followed up by the Sunday Times.

The firm later apologized and paid the damages to Rowling for the leak.

According to the Miami Herald, the Solicitors Regulation Authority issued a rebuke to Gossage for disclosing a client's confidential information to a third-party.

The ruling, dated November 26, was published this week. Sales of the thriller novel rocketed after Rowling was revealed to be the author.

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