Confidentiality is fundamental to the client-lawyer relationship. It encourages candid communication between client and lawyer, and assists the lawyer in more effectively representing the client. Confidentiality not only shapes how lawyers deliver services, but it is a bedrock principle of the lawyer rules of professional conduct in all 50 states.
Related to client-lawyer confidentiality—but not the same—are the attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine. These evidentiary protections apply in judicial or other proceedings where client evidence is sought to be compelled from a lawyer. While confidentiality and the associated evidentiary protections (and the danger of waiver) should always be top-of-mind, during this unprecedented time of coronavirus and remote-working, lawyers—and clients—should be especially sensitive to maintaining these essential protections.
