Attorney Client Privilege, What Does It Mean?
To be brief, the attorney client privilege is the protecting, that is keeping confidential, of information, documents, and evidence given by a client to his or her attorney, much the same as when giving such details to a religious minister, a doctor, or a mental health counselor. This information can be given verbally or in writing and cannot be shared by the professional without permission of the client. In other words, the aspect of “privilege” is on behalf of the client, not the attorney.
There is, however, an exception to the attorney client privilege when the intention of the information is to commit or cover up fraud or crime. The attorney then has the obligation to disclose the incriminating information to proper authorities as appropriate.
Additionally, privileged information given by a client to his or her attorney is protected by the “work- product doctrine”. According to Wikipedia, “In American civil procedure, the work-product doctrine protects materials prepared in anticipation of litigation from discovery by opposing counsel. It is also known as the work-product rule, the work- product immunity, the work-product privilege, and the work-product exception.” This is very important when it comes to filling out interrogatories and the request for production. Here the client can choose to disclose what could be termed attorney client privileged information but the attorney cannot force the client to do so.
When considering how important it is to be able to confide in one’s attorney information or to show one’s attorney documents and/or evidence that pertain directly to the client’s case, it is a good thing such disclosures can, in most instances, be protected and the knowledge gained from such revealing kept confidential. If you live in Florida in Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, Miami-Dade, Broward, Orange, or Hillsborough Counties, in Washington DC or New York and have need for an experienced Family Law Attorney, Grant Gisondo can help. When meeting with him personally for an initial, free, in-office consultation he will be glad to explain in detail how the attorney client privilege works. His office is in Palm Beach Gardens where he is available, except when in court, Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm and for new clients, on Saturday from 8:30 am to 1:00 pm. You can call (561) 530-4568 to make an appointment. You can also learn about the many ways Attorney Gisondo can work with you, read interesting and helpful blogs, and see client and peer reviews by viewing his website at https://gisondolaw.com/.