united-kingdom european-union lawyer attorney-client-privilege
Is everything between me and my lawyer confidential?
<p>From the law point of view can I tell my lawyer <em>EVERYTHING</em> knowing that he is NOT allowed to disclose anything I tell him including crimes I did in the past or crimes I am planning to commit in the future? </p>

<p>Firstly, legal professional privilege applies only when information is disclosed for the purpose of obtaining legal advice. Talking about a bad haircut you got last week is probably <em>not</em> protected by legal professional privilege.</p>
<p>Secondly, <em>all privileged communications and documents are confidential and protected</em>. However, there are certain exceptions to legal professional privilege - such information is <em>not privileged</em>, not confidential and may be disclosed.</p>
<p>Finally, there is an exception to legal professional privilege. This is where documents form part of a criminal or fraudulent act, or communications that take place with the intention of carrying out an offence - from <a href="https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/civil-litigation/legal-professional-privilege-guide" rel="nofollow noreferrer">the Law Society Chapter on legal professional privilege, 6.4.5</a>. It goes on to enumerate a number of exceptions to legal professional privilege:</p>
<ul>
<li>Intention of furthering a criminal purpose<br />
If a client (or a third party) intends that the communication is made to further a criminal purpose, it is not privileged.</li>
<li>Knowing a transaction constitutes an offence<br />
If the transaction is an offence, the lawyer also commits an offence - these communications are also not privileged.</li>
</ul>
<p>In answer to your question - information about past crimes is privileged, however, information provided in order to obtain advice on committing future crimes is not.</p>

<p><strong>tl;dr:</strong> Definitely not.</p>

<p>The UK's concept of legal privilege includes the: a) legal advice privilege, and b) litigation privilege.</p>

<p>This <a href="https://apps.americanbar.org/litigation/committees/insurance/docs/2011-cle-materials/12-RoleUK-Insurers-US-Claims/12-UK-US-Privilege.pdf" rel="nofollow">UK vs. US</a> comparison on privilege is a good read.  I'd initially hesitated to include it since it's tailored towards corporate law, however, it might be helpful to two audiences:</p>

<ol>
<li>Those reading this question from a business/non-profit perspective</li>
<li>Individuals with more complicated circumstances</li>
<li>Those who'd like to see a few good examples that differentiate the UK's legal advice privilege from the litigation privilege</li>
</ol>

<p>Of course, there are differences, but a rough translation into US terms would equate the legal advice privilege with attorney-client privilege and the litigation privilege with attorney work-product doctrine.  US procedure stems from the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp/rule_26" rel="nofollow">Rule 26</a>.</p>

<p>In most cases this latter doctrine shields work prepared by or for an attorney (e.g. an attorney's personal reflections, thoughts on strategy, a consultant's assessment).  It's helpful to have this in mind while reading the comparison.</p>

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