Denver criminal defense lawyer / how attorney client privilege works

The courts in Colorado and across the country understand that in an adversarial system, the defendants Denver criminal defense lawyer needs to be informed of all the facts to best mount a defense for his client. If the attorney could be forced to testify against his client as to facts that were disclosed during a meeting, the client would not want to be candid, and the attorney would be forced to guess as to what really happened. Even though the court could find out more in the short term, in the long term it would harm the adversarial system. That's why attorney client privilege is a crucial element of the system, and critical in protecting the defendant's rights.

However, there are several crucial elements for the client to know about attorney client privilege. First, it is the client's privilege. That means as the defendant in a case, your Denver criminal defense lawyer cannot share the things told to you in confidence with anybody else. However, it also means if the defendant tells a friend or family member something secret, it's not protected: it is your privilege after all. That not only means you can get in trouble if the person you tell is a gossip, it also means if the prosecution finds out about it, they can subpoena the person you told and force them to testify.

Additionally, remember that the attorney-client privilege isn't blanket protection that allows you to tell your attorney anything. It is limited to situations where you are seeking legal advice within an attorney client relationship. So if no relationship has been established, you won't be covered. Additionally, the attorney has the discretion to disclose where he believes information covered by the privilege will prevent imminent bodily harm or death, or if he believes his legal advice has been used to perpetrate a fraud scheme. Despite these exceptions, the attorney-client privilege offers very strong protection to those seeking legal advice, and you shouldn't hesitate to disclose most everything without fear that your Denver criminal lawyer will tell anybody else.