The Meaning Of Client-Lawyer Relationship
Whenever you hire a lawyer, a client-lawyer relationship is formed and a privilege is created. The relationship between you and the lawyer is different from other professional relationships. A lawyer-client relationship comes into existence when you expressly form a legal agreement for representation or imply that the lawyer will provide a legal agreement even without a written contract.
Once a client-lawyer relationship has been formed, the lawyer has responsibilities that include fiduciary duty, confidentiality, competence, and keeping open channels of communication. Fiduciary duty means that your lawyer must always act according to your best interests. This includes avoiding any situation that will put your interests at odds with the lawyer and his other clients.
Confidentiality means that your lawyer must keep secret all information that you shared with him not unless you provide him permission to reveal said information to others. Client-lawyer privilege means that neither the lawyer nor his client can be forced to disclose the contents of a conversation. Confidentially will continue even after you change the lawyer or end the client-lawyer relationship.
Meanwhile, even if you meet with a lawyer and then decide not to hire him for your case, the lawyer is still be bound by confidentiality. He cannot reveal anything that you have told him during the initial consultation. The lawyer cannot immediately take a case for a client with conflicting interests.
However, there are exceptions to the client-lawyer privilege. For example, if you are going to tell your lawyer that you will harm yourself or someone and the lawyer has reasonable cause to believe your threat to be true, he has an obligation to reveal the confidential information to prevent you from being hurt or killed. You can also waive the client-lawyer privilege if you openly discuss or reveal confidential information to others. You can also expressly authorize the lawyer to disclose confidential information.
For more information, you can call MyDefence.ca and discuss the meaning of client-lawyer relationship and the lawyer’s responsibility to his clients. It is important to have an expressed relationship through a formal meeting of minds with your lawyer or through a written contract to avoid confusion.
