Solicitor - Client Privilege

About Solicitor-Client Privilege

Anything you tell your lawyer to get his advice, is confidential. In other words the lawyer is prevented by law from revealing this information to anyone else. This restriction on the lawyer's ability to disclose this information is called "solicitor client privilege". The reason for this rule is that without it people would be afraid to disclose anything to their lawyers and that fear would weaken the administration of justice.

Even a court can not force a lawyer to reveal what his client has told him or her. This restriction applies even if the information accidentally comes into the hands of a third party or the opponent in a lawsuit - it still can not be used in court. A lawyer's employees are equally prohibited from disclosing the client's information and if they do the person receiving the information will be ordered by the court not to use it.

Any discussion that a lawyer has with a client about the bill is considered just as confidential as talking about the case. The ban on disclosure continues after the lawyer's representation of the client is over. However if two people hire a lawyer together, each person is entitled to know what the lawyer tells the other.

Sometimes clients will visit their lawyers with a friend. If the friend is present when the information is disclosed to the lawyer there will be no restriction on the friend using the information. By revealing the information in front of the friend the client has voluntarily waived the privilege on the information.

There are two exceptions to the privilege rule. The privacy protection is lost when the client tries to get a lawyer's advice about committing a crime. It is also lost when the client voluntarily permits the lawyer to disclose the information. Sometimes this might occur indirectly. For example, in the course of giving evidence in a law suit a client might reveal some of the discussions with his lawyer. In that circumstance a Court could decide that the client's disclosure eliminated the solicitor client privilege and require the client to reveal further information, if asked.

The privilege can also apply to professions other than lawyers such as a doctor or minister, but in these cases the privilege will not occur automatically. This question of privilege will usually arise during a trial when someone will try to introduce evidence of statements an individual made to a doctor or priest. In those circumstances the Court will decide whether to permit the information to be revealed, after considering the following:

a) does society want that relationship (with doctor or priest) kept private and is privacy essential to it;
b) will keeping this information confidential do the most good;
c) was the communication meant to be private.

If the answer to all of these is yes, the information will not be permitted into the trial. The distinction with lawyer privilege is that these questions do not have to be asked. The privilege is automatically present.

Privilege can also apply to information a lawyer receives from a third party in aid of the client's case. This is particularly so when it occurs in the context of litigation. If a lawyer hires a professional to provide an expert opinion regarding a client's lawsuit, that information is privileged i.e. private unless the expert's opinion id provided to the court or opposing counsel. Once that occurs privilege is lifted.

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