Solicitor Client Privilege - a Client's Right

The duty of confidentiality is a greater rule which also includes the concept of solicitor-client privilege. This duty covers all information which is received by the lawyer from the client and is gained by the lawyer in the course of carrying out duties on behalf of the client. It is a specific restriction that prohibits the lawyer from passing on information that may be known by third parties but is also held by the lawyer.

Solicitor-client privilege covers information which is a subset of information that would normally be considered confidential. It is limited to information which is received by the lawyer from the client and work-product which is created by the lawyer. These are matters that the lawyer would not know but for the client's choice to pass on the information to the lawyer or to engage the lawyer to work on his/her behalf.

One of the justifications for the concept of solicitor-client privilege is a desire to prevent the client from being conscripted into giving evidence against himself. The argument asserts that the client tells the lawyer certain items of information in order to obtain legal advice. If the lawyer is permitted to pass that information on then the client will, in effect, be testifying against himself.

Another justification is that the client will not be fully open in discussing legal matters with a lawyer unless confidentiality of the discussions is assured. The suggestion is that lawyers will not be able to give clients effective legal advice unless they are in possession of all relevant information, that clients will not give all relevant information to their lawyers unless they are assured the information is confidential, and that effective legal representation of clients is necessary to the operation of the justice system.