Attorney-Client Privilege

The attorney-client privilege protects confidential communications between a lawyer and a client made to get or give legal advice. In asbestos litigation it protects patients' talks with their lawyers, and companies have also raised it to try to keep internal documents involving their own lawyers out of evidence.

Origin

The privilege is one of the oldest in the common law, recognized in English courts by the sixteenth century. In U.S. federal courts it is governed by common-law principles under Federal Rule of Evidence 501, and each state has its own version.

Significance in Asbestos Context

The privilege covers legal advice, not ordinary business decisions, even when a company lawyer is involved. Many historical asbestos documents involve company counsel: for example, the correspondence of Johns-Manville general counsel Vandiver Brown and Raybestos-Manhattan's Sumner Simpson. Courts deciding whether such documents are privileged look at their purpose and whether confidentiality was kept. The privilege can also be lost, or waived, if the communication is shared outside the protected circle, and many courts recognize a crime-fraud exception for communications made to further a crime or fraud. For a patient or family, the practical point is that what you tell your own lawyer in confidence is generally protected, but sharing it with others can risk that protection.

Example Sentence

The company claimed attorney-client privilege over its 1940s correspondence with outside counsel, but the court found the letters discussed business strategy, not legal advice.

Related Terms

Work Product Doctrine, Vandiver Brown Communications, Sumner Simpson Papers, Discovery, Protective Order, Corporate Knowledge

Notes

• Conversations with your lawyer are generally confidential; avoid forwarding your lawyer's emails or letters to others.
• Posting about your case on social media can create evidence the other side may request.