Evidence Quick Tip: The Attorney-Client Privilege

The Attorney Client Privilege

As a future attorney, you need to be ready for clients. Therefore, the attorney-client privilege is especially important to know! This privilege protects communications that are: 

  • made for the purpose of obtaining legal advice or representation and
  • intended to be (and kept) confidential

This is based on a notion deeply rooted in Roman law that an attorney must be loyal to his/her client and should therefore be disabled from becoming a witness in the client’s case. As a result, a client can freely confide in his/her attorney and the attorney can obtain the fullest possible knowledge about the client’s situation. 

This privilege frequently appears on the MBE®—with three common traps: 

  • Trap #1: Communications that are merely incidental to the legal representation (e.g., communications about legal fees). Such communications are NOT protected by the attorney-client privilege. 
  • Trap #2: Communications heard by a third party (e.g., the client’s wife reads an email to the attorney). Such communications are NOT protected because they are not confidential. 
  • Trap #3: Communications made to an attorney’s agent (e.g., the client is interviewed by the attorney’s consultant). Such communications ARE protected (see the illustration below).
Evidence-Quick-Tip-The-Attorney-Client-Privilege

See if you can spot these traps when answering practice questions in the UWorld MBE QBank. Click here to access our QBank or purchase a subscription.

MBE® is a registered trademark of The National Conference of Bar Examiners® (NCBE®). NCBE does not endorse, promote, or warrant the accuracy or quality of the products or services offered by UWorld Legal.

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