Criminal Defense and Attorney Client Privilege

The attorney-client privilege is the corner stone to our successful judicial system.  The attorney-client privilege requires the attorney to not share anything about his client or anything the client tells him in private.  Every attorney, in every area of law, promises to follow this rule and if an attorney breaks the attorney-client privilege rule, he can have his license to practice law revoked.  It is something all attorneys take very seriously. 

Open Communication

An attorney needs to know every detail of a case in order to properly represent his client, and in order for him to create a solid defense, he must know the truth.  In criminal cases in particular, a client may not want to tell his attorney the truth of every detail out of fear of having more charges brought against him.  The attorney-client privilege protects defendants and allows attorneys to build a better defense because they can have open communication with their clients.
Clients often do not know the law and do not know what information is needed to best defend against charges brought against them.  An attorney needs to know everything so he can best decipher what information is helpful and what is not.  The attorney-client privilege allows clients and attorneys to speak to each other openly without fear of further punishment.

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Confidentiality Promise

While information a client gives an attorney in private must be kept confidential by the attorney, the client is not bound by that confidentiality promise.  An important thing to remember about the attorney-client privilege is this:  once a client shares information with someone else, it is no longer protected by the privilege.  If a client tells someone in jail, or someone in his family, details about his case, others can ask about those conversations.  Whether those conversations can be brought into court will depend on complicated rules of evidence.  An attorney, on the other hand, can never be called to testify against his own client and can never be asked to disclose conversations or communication of any kind with his client.

It is important to remember that a defendant simply should not share anything with anyone other than his attorney if he wants to protect the information.