Also known as: lawyer client evidentiary privilege · lawyer-client privilege · attorney-client evidentiary privilege · attorney-client privilege · legal professional privilege
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A protection afforded by law to confidential communications between a client and an attorney made for the purpose of obtaining or providing legal advice.
Lamar Lewis left his old firm and joined a new one. Before taking on a new matter, he needed to screen for conflicts involving a former client from the prior firm. Lamar shared only the names of the parties and the general subject matter without revealing any confidential details from prior advice sessions. The limited disclosure allowed the new firm to identify a potential conflict without compromising any protected communications.
Lighthouse Shipping's counsel interviewed several crew members after a spill and prepared written summaries of those interviews. The opposing crew members sought the summaries in discovery, claiming they contained critical facts. The court denied the request because the summaries reflected counsel's preparations in anticipation of litigation and were not attorney-client communications.
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Lena called in-house counsel Patel to discuss coverage positions on pending claims. She recorded the call for later reference while drafting reports. When policyholders later sought the recording, the court treated the underlying conversation as a confidential attorney-client communication protected by the privilege.
After a shooting incident, a police officer met with a licensed social worker for trauma counseling arranged by the department. The officer described the event and his resulting anxiety during the sessions. When a civil plaintiff later sought the notes, the court held the communications protected under a privilege that functions like the lawyer-client evidentiary privilege.
Lotus Pharmaceuticals faced potential regulatory action. In-house counsel directed lower-level engineers and suppliers to provide information about testing protocols for the purpose of obtaining legal advice. The resulting memos summarizing those communications remained protected even though the employees were not senior managers.
Luke Latham confessed details of a larger scheme to his lawyer during a confidential meeting. Luke died before trial. When prosecutors later sought the lawyer's testimony against named associates, the court refused to compel disclosure because the privilege continued after the client's death.
No. The privilege survives the client's death. Courts preserve the protection to encourage clients to speak fully and frankly during life without fear that their statements will later be revealed.
The lawyer-client evidentiary privilege protects confidential communications between client and counsel for legal advice. Work-product protection separately shields an attorney's mental impressions and materials prepared in anticipation of litigation, even when those materials are not client communications.
Yes. The privilege extends to communications between corporate counsel and employees at every level when the communications are made at the direction of superiors for the purpose of securing legal advice.
Under Federal Rule of Evidence 502, an inadvertent disclosure does not waive the privilege if the holder took reasonable steps to prevent disclosure and promptly took reasonable steps to rectify the error.
No, not automatically. The privilege remains if the third person's presence is reasonably necessary to the communication and the circumstances show an intent to maintain confidentiality.