Helping a Friend with her divorce

[Jason7736]

Jurisdiction

Florida

Hello, here's the situation. A friend of my who suffers from PTSD due to the trauma inflicted on her during her marriage, has asked me to help her understand the things her attorneys are telling her. This is because she's having such difficulty emotionally, and mentally comprehending things and she trusts me to be able to keep a level head when it comes to understanding the ins and outs of everything her divorce attorneys are telling her.

Her attorney's have stated that she can allow me to speak to them about her case, but if I do, attorney/client privilege won't protect her anymore and that I can be subpoenaed about anything I discuss with her attorneys.

The questions about this are...
1) would that have a negative impact on her divorce case and the division of assets in her divorce?
2) would her giving me power of attorney allow me to speak to her attorney's on her behalf while still keeping attorney/client privilege intact? and if this question is a yes, is there some kind of specific type of power of attorney that we would need to do?

Thanks in advance for any help with these questions.

 

[Zigner]

Hello, here's the situation. A friend of my who suffers from PTSD due to the trauma inflicted on her during her marriage, has asked me to help her understand the things her attorneys are telling her. This is because she's having such difficulty emotionally, and mentally comprehending things and she trusts me to be able to keep a level head when it comes to understanding the ins and outs of everything her divorce attorneys are telling her.

Her attorney's have stated that she can allow me to speak to them about her case, but if I do, attorney/client privilege won't protect her anymore and that I can be subpoenaed about anything I discuss with her attorneys.

The questions about this are...
1) would that have a negative impact on her divorce case and the division of assets in her divorce?

There's no way we can predict what affect it may or may not have on the case. Ask the attorney.

2) would her giving me power of attorney allow me to speak to her attorney's on her behalf while still keeping attorney/client privilege intact? and if this question is a yes, is there some kind of specific type of power of attorney that we would need to do?

Probably not - but that's a great question to ask the attorney.

 

[Jason7736]

There's no way we can predict what affect it may or may not have on the case. Ask the attorney.
Probably not - but that's a great question to ask the attorney.

Thank you for the response. I am however hoping that there is an attorney on here that can give me some insight into those questions as I can't talk to my friends attorney without potentially coming across the issue of violating attorney/client privilege and she's going through so much it's hard for her to even deal with them on her own. Hence the post on this forum.

 

[Zigner]

Thank you for the response. I am however hoping that there is an attorney on here that can give me some insight into those questions as I can't talk to my friends attorney without potentially coming across the issue of violating attorney/client privilege and she's going through so much it's hard for her to even deal with them on her own. Hence the post on this forum.

The questions you asked here, in and of themselves, would not cause any problems with privilege.

 

[zddoodah]

Her attorney's [sic] have stated that she can allow me to speak to them about her case, but if I do, attorney/client privilege won't protect her anymore and that I can be subpoenaed about anything I discuss with her attorneys.

Your friend might want to further discuss this with her attorney. The attorney-client privilege under Florida law protects communications between a lawyer and a client, including persons "to whom disclosure is in furtherance of the rendition of legal services to the client" and who are "reasonably necessary for the transmission of the communication." IMO, there is a very good argument that, under the circumstances you mentioned, you are such a person.

would that have a negative impact on her divorce case and the division of assets in her divorce?

We have no way of knowing. It depends on the specifics of what is discussed.

would her giving me power of attorney allow me to speak to her attorney's on her behalf while still keeping attorney/client privilege intact?

No.

 

[Jason7736]

The questions you asked here, in and of themselves, would not cause any problems with privilege.

Thank you, I really do appreciate the answers.