When starting a business, sharing with your audience can be beneficial( they want to see your journey). Although there are a few things you want to keep private. That’s why it’s important to good to establish attorney-client privilege and confidentiality.

“But what does that mean?”

It’s essential to understand the difference between attorney-client privilege and attorney-client confidentiality. Both concepts help to protect our client’s interests and are meant to encourage honest and open communication between us and our clients. Even so, they serve VERY different purposes.

The difference? Very simply put, attorney-client privilege stems from rules of EVIDENCE, whereas confidentiality stems from rules of ETHICS. But that’s not all.

Starting with confidentiality, every state has Rules of Professional Conduct that apply to lawyers who are licensed in that state. These are ethical requirements that we must abide by; like the dos and don’ts for how to be a lawyer. If we don’t follow these rules, we can get in a LOT of trouble, including losing our licenses. Do you see how huge this is?

Stay with me now because it can get intricate. Rule 1.6 of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct tell us about our duties of confidentiality.

It says “a lawyer shall not reveal information relating to the representation of a client unless the client gives informed consent, the disclosure is impliedly authorized in order to carry out the representation, or the disclosure is permitted by paragraph B.”

So what this tells us is that we CANNOT reveal ANY information relating to our representation of a client EXCEPT in a few limited circumstances. And when I say we can’t reveal ANY information, I mean ANY information.

Tune in to the new episode of All Up In Yo’ Business to find out the remaining difference between the two. And be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more All Up In Yo’ Business! Contact us today if you need help with your business.

Want more information on your attorney relationship? Check out: How To Find (The Right) Lawyer.