Basically what does that mean in simple terms and what does it actually cover. We’re having a small debate in my house about it right now and nothing I’ve looked up have been in simple enough terms haha .
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The basic idea is that any conversation between you and your lawyer is expected to remain private and confidential regardless of the content. So you can tell your lawyer anything and they have to keep it private.
This by extension means that your lawyer can’t be made to testify against you in court (under most circumstances). So a prosecutor can’t just call your defense lawyer to the stand to spill all the beans regarding the case. Otherwise that would negatively effect their ability to defend you in court.
The main exception to the Attorney Client Privilege being when you and your lawyer are having a conversation regarding committing or covering up a crime. In other words, when the lawyer themselves are directly involved in the criminal activity.
This concept is different depending on where you live, so you’ll have to be more specific. In the United States, the general rule is that unless the client consents (or a few other exceptions apply), a lawyer cannot be forced to disclose confidential communicates between them and their client that were made for the purposes of obtaining legal advice.
To note, it’s important that it an attorney-client relationship exist. So you have to have hired the lawyer or have had a discussion about hiring them. So talking to your neighbor who happens to be a lawyer isn’t covered.
The communication also has to be for the purpose of seeking legal advice. So talking to your lawyer about playing golf isn’t covered.
The communication also has to be confidential. So a private phone call, email, or conversation is protected. A chat in crowded elevator is not.
Answer: Basically, the things that you say to your lawyer (when they are actually working as legal counsel; i.e. when they are giving you legal advice in a professional capacity) are “privileged”. That means neither you nor your lawyer can be compelled to share any of the details of those conversations, and nothing you say to your lawyer can be used against you in court.
The reason for this privilege is so that you can get the best legal defense possible. If it were possible for the things you say to your lawyer to be used as evidence against you, it would make mounting a proper legal defense nearly impossible. You would have to be as careful talking to your own counsel as you should be when talking to the police. And your lawyer would likewise have to be incredibly careful about what they ask you, which defeats the entire purpose.
There are exceptions to this privilege, though. You aren’t protected by it if you involve your lawyer in a criminal conspiracy, for example, for obvious reasons.
Your Attorney is legally your advocate for your defense.
In order to be your advocate, you must feel comfortable telling them anything and everything. Therefore, they are not allowed to use anything you tell them against you, or allow anyone else to know about anything that could be used against you.
When you talk to a lawyer, while they are being your lawyer, no one can make either of you repeat what was said. Your lawyer can not repeat anything that was said without your permission. You made a pinky swear to keep it all secret because it’s all supposed to be *secret*.
When you talk to your lawyer about anything else, like baseball, you don’t make a pinky swear because there are no secrets in baseball. There are no secrets in how the weather is or what ice cream you like either. So you don’t pinky swear, so your lawyer can talk about it if they like to.
You can tell your client anything and they cannot divulge it to anybody, cannot be compelled to testify about what you told them.
> nothing I’ve looked up have been in simple enough terms haha .
Then you have no business debating things you have no understanding of.
it’s nice and good that you wanted to learn but to debate is a different matter.
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