Attorney-Client Privilege

legal right to preserve the confidentiality of conversations between a lawyer and client (one cannot legally be forced to reveal this information)

This article is about a United States legal term. For the Commonwealth equivalent, see solicitor-client privilege. For legal professional privilege in Australia, see legal professional privilege (Australia). Attorney-client privilege is a legal concept that protects communications between a client and his or her attorney and keeps those communications confidential. This privilege encourages open and honest communication between clients and attorneys. However, in the United States, not all state courts treat attorney communications as privileged. For instance, Washington state law, and the federal courts when applying federal law, only protect client communications—an attorney's communication will only be protected as privileged to the extent it contains or reveals the client's communications. In contrast, California state law protects the attorney's confidential communications regardless of whether they contain, refer to or reveal the client's communications. In addition, the United States Supreme Court has ruled that the privilege generally does not terminate upon the client's death. See Swidler & Berlin v. United States.
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Noun
1. the right of a lawyer to refuse to divulge confidential information from his client
(hypernym) privilege

California Evidence Code section 954 states that 'the client, whether or not a party, has a privilege to refuse to disclose, and to prevent another from disclosing, a confidential communication between client and lawyer . . . .' (Evid. Code, § 954.) 'The attorney-client privilege defined by Evidence Code section 954 authorizes a client to refuse to disclose, and to prevent others from disclosing, information communicated in confidence to the attorney and legal advice received in return. The objective of the privilege is to enhance the value which society places upon legal representation by assuring the client the opportunity for full disclosure to the attorney unfettered by fear that others will be informed. While the privilege belongs only to the client, the attorney is professionally obligated to claim it on his client's behalf whenever the opportunity arises unless he has been instructed otherwise by the client. (Evid. Code, § 955; Bus. & Prof. Code, § 6068, subd. (e).)' (Glade v. Superior Court (1978) 76 Cal.App.3d 738, 743.)

Most states have a similar doctrine, whether by statute or otherwise.