II - The Attorney-Client Privilege

[Colt Daniels]

II - The Attorney-Client Privilege

1. An attorney shall preserve the confidentiality of any information acquired from a client or otherwise while rendering legal assistance, particularly during representation or defense. An attorney must conscientiously determine alone what the client wants to be preserved as the Attorney-Client Privilege.
2. An attorney shall exercise reasonable care to ensure that the confidentiality of such information be preserved by other persons working in his or her law office.
3. The Attorney-Client Privilege refers to all documents, recordings, computer data, pictures and similar materials and deposits kept in the attorney's office.
4. Confidences or information acquired in the course of rendering legal assistance to a person or a public body must not be used in the proceedings or otherwise to the client's disadvantage.
5. An attorney shall preserve the Attorney-Client Privilege under threat of disciplinary accountability while rendering legal assistance and afterwards, as long as its disclosure is likely to be detrimental to the client.
6. In order to preserve the Attorney-Client Privilege, an attorney shall not disclose any information about the matters entrusted to him or her, even upon the termination of a case.
7. The rules governing the obligation of protecting the Attorney-Client Privilege shall be applied accordingly to other attorneys and employees working in the same law office.
8. Revelation of the Attorney-Client Privilege is permitted only upon the clear consent of the client, if it is necessary for the defense of the attorney, if it is necessary to justify the attorney's decision to withdraw from defending the client, or in circumstances where the attorney's "duty to protect" outweighs the privilege afforded to the client.