Is there really attorney client privacy?

[hello101234]

So lets say that someone calls a law firm and asks for advice. He is not sure whether he is speaking to an attorney or a assistant on the phone but he does ask questions and he feels nervous about talking to the person on the phone.

I am curious because I would like to call a law firm but is everything that I tell them really considered confidential even if I am just seeking adivise and I am not a client for them or can the law firm actually call the police department and tell them what I have told them? What if the person on the phone was not an attorney and they were a secretary?

This is in California and I am just trying to see if I ask an attorney or a law firm some questions. Is my story safe from leaving that phone conversation before I am actually considered a client.

Thanks

 

[debt_helper]

#1- If you want to know if you are speaking to an attorney and not a secretary or paralegal, ask them if they are an attorney. Someone that is not an attorney but working at a law firm will not misrepresent themselves as an attorney.

#2- you are not a client if all you are asking for is advice. Thus attorney-CLIENT privlege is not extended.

#3- If what you say puts someone at risk, the attorney may call the police to protect society. If you later harm someone, and they knew about it and didn't tell anyone, they could be in trouble themselves. The easiest way to avoid this is to pose your facts as a hypothetical. The attorney may know you are stating facts, but at least he will have his end covered and may not feel like wasting time calling the police. Also, there is no need to tell them your name or any other information about yourself if you are just asking questions.

 

[hello101234]

RE last reply

Well to put it in simple terms, I was just wondering because I wanted to seek advise about a law. I am definetly not a "threat" to somone or society... I just wanted to know about a situation I was involved in a while back in my teen years. The story that I told the law firm would only be convicted as a misdemeanor so it was just a question that I had that I was curious about.

So is this something that law firms would keep confidential? I mean, why would someone call a criminal defense attorney in the first place if he couldn't trust them?