How Unique is the Attorney-Client Privilege?
No other legal system has gone to such extremes to protect communications between the lawyer and the client. In most nations, the privilege is not applicable if the client admits wrong doing. In some other systems, such as most of the former British Commonwealth, the attorney can not defend as innocent someone who has admitted to the attorney committing a crime. In some systems, the attorney is required to reveal such information to the authorities. In the United States the attorney’s task is to represent the client to the best of the attorney’s ability regardless of the innocence or guilt of the client. The theory holds that the individual rights of the client must be protected by competent and dedicated legal counsel and this is true regardless of the actions of the client, for those rights are as applicable to the guilty citizen as the innocent. More importantly, since each individual is charged with the responsibility of defending him or herself in the legal system, that individual
Related Questions
- I am an attorney. Do communications with clients already covered by the attorney-client privilege immunize me from complying with 201 CMR 17.00?
- Why would the Exposure Draft erode the protections of the attorney-client privilege and work product doctrine?
- Does Exception to Attorney-Client Privilege Apply in Lawsuits Between Law Firm and Former Client?
