The Importance of Lawyer-Client Confidentiality and Exemptions to the Confidentiality Rule

Lawyers and Client Confidentiality
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Lawyers and Client Confidentiality
In matters regarding the law, confidentiality is sacred or rather nearly sacred. This confidentiality serves a myriad of purposes, and one of them is that it enables open conversation between the lawyer and the client. Moreover, confidentiality aids the attorney's preparation in the client's representation. Thirdly, confidentiality enables the lawyer to offer guidance to the client about desisting from wrongdoing or any conduct that may damage the client's interest (Banks, 2018). However, some exceptions to the confidentiality rule exist, including reporting child, elder, and dependent adult abuse, as well as the so-called "duty to protect." Moreover, when the information presented is for the prosecution of the client's interests, deterrence of a crime, or the lawyer's self-defense, the client confidentiality does not apply.
However, lawyers must disclose crimes committed by their clients if they reasonably believe it is necessary to prevent the client from committing a crime and prevent fraud that will res...