Attorney-Client Privilege
Definition
A legal protection shielding confidential communications between an attorney and their client from compelled disclosure in litigation. A forensic accountant retained by counsel as an agent typically shares in this protection, but only for communications made in the context of legal advice.
- Protects
- Confidential attorney-client communications
- Effect
- Shields communications from compelled disclosure in litigation
- Extension
- Can cover a forensic accountant retained as counsel's agent
- Limit
- Applies only to communications made for legal advice
Common questions
Under what condition does a forensic accountant's work fall under attorney-client privilege?+
The accountant generally needs to be retained by, and working under the direction of, legal counsel, and the specific communications or work product must relate to providing legal advice, not to routine accounting or business analysis that would exist regardless of litigation.
What kind of forensic accounting work is typically NOT protected by this privilege?+
Work performed independently of counsel's direction, such as a standard financial statement audit or routine internal investigation report shared broadly with management, generally falls outside privilege because it was not created specifically to obtain or provide legal advice.
Related terms
- Engagement Letter
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- Litigation Hold
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- The unintended expansion of a penetration test beyond the agreed boundaries, either because testers follow a vulnerability chain into an out-of-scope system...
- Work-Product Doctrine
- A rule protecting materials prepared by or for an attorney in anticipation of litigation. It is broader than attorney-client privilege and covers...