Without the client’s permission, an attorney may not disclose confidential information that a client has communicated to the attorney.
FAQs Category: Attorney-Client Privilege
No. Attorney-client privilege protects only that spoken or written information conveyed to an attorney hired by the client, and which is communicated when the client is seeking the attorney’s legal advice on a matter.
Care must be taken with their use, since third parties may eavesdrop even on supposedly secure or encrypted communications.
Only the client owns the privilege, but it can be inadvertently broken by communicating the confidential information to a third party.
Yes, other members of the firm – attorneys, legal assistants, paralegals, and clerical staff – must honor the attorney-client privilege and protect the client’s confidential information.
Only a client’s authorization or a court’s ruling can end the privilege.