Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Re: Privilege and Confidentiality with Attorney and After Case

You leave a lot more questions unanswered than those you ask! An attorney-client relationship is inviolate -- it is confidential between the attorney and client, and may be shared with no other person, as long as you don't tell anyone else or no one else is present at your meeting with the attorney unless the attorney also represents the other person. Even, hypothetically, if you committed a crime by obtaining the information on your "associate", that is between you and the attorney. The attorney shall -not- report the crime to anyone.

Re: Privilege and Confidentiality with Attorney and After Case

Your attorney must keep all of your communications about your case confidential, unless he becomes aware that you intend to kill or seriously injure someone else. Even then, he would be allowed but not required to reveal what you had said, and could reveal only that aspect of your communications; everything else would remain confidential. This confidentiality is legally mandated and courts will not order the attorney to reveal what you say.

The confidentiality extends to everyone working for the attorney, including secretaries, receptionists, paralegals, other attorneys, and private investigators. However, this is not true of a private investigator you hire on your own. Most investigators are very good about maintaining client secrets, but they can be required to testify about discussions with you.

Hiring an attorney will cost more, especially if he or she hires an investigator, but it will protect your privacy more than would hiring an investigator on your own.

Re: Privilege and Confidentiality with Attorney and After Case

Attorney client privilege is very strong. You may contact me.

Re: Privilege and Confidentiality with Attorney and After Case

Please contact my office at 714 363 0220 to set up an appointment. I would like to review your written documentation including any letters. We handle cases throughout California. We can review your documentation by fax and speak with you by phone. You normally should rely upon an honest attorney to keep confidences. You should not be retaliated against.

Re: Privilege and Confidentiality with Attorney and After Case

Looks like you are located in our neck of the woods. You, justifiably, are not giving much information about the situation, but you can rely on the attorney-client privilege to protect you. Keep in mind that you need first to actually retain an attorney before giving the information to him or her. Call me if you have questions. 805.692.2800.

Re: Privilege and Confidentiality with Attorney and After Case

There is an error in Mr. Snyder's response. You do not need to retain an attorney before you can speak with him in confidence. The privilege applies once you have established a confidential relationship, and consulting with an attorney is enough to do that even if you do not ultimately retain that lawyer. If the rule were otherwise, attorneys and prospective clients would be unable to make informed decisions when deciding whether they should work together.

You should not simply email a lawyer with all of the confidential details of your case, since it is possible that the same attorney will already have a conflict of interests or that the email address may no longer be valid. Instead, you should approach attorneys by explaining the general nature of your case and asking if they would be willing to discuss it with you further.

Good luck.