Ethics Forum: Questions and Answers on Professional Responsibility
I had represented a corporation and that corporation is now defunct and does not exist anymore. Do the privileged conversations and information learned during my representation of the corporation still remain in the attorney-client privilege since the corporation is now defunct?
December 23, 2020 at 10:18 AM
10 minute read
Attorney-client privilege for a corporation is not the same as privilege for a human client.
I had represented a corporation and that corporation is now defunct and does not exist anymore. Do the privileged conversations and information learned during my representation of the corporation still remain in the attorney-client privilege since the corporation is now defunct?
In Pennsylvania, neither the termination by a client or the death of a client terminates the attorney/client privilege. Even if one's client passes away, the lawyer's duty is to still protect the privilege. This sometimes arises in a criminal case that was unsolved and the suspect dies. Other times, courts or district attorneys will ask or want the lawyer who represented the now-deceased suspect to provide information as to what happened or where the body was or is, etc. But the Rules of Professional Conduct are very clear that the privilege continues even after the death of a client. Rule 1.6(e) of the Rules of Professional Conduct states, "The duty not to reveal information relating to the representation of a client continues after the attorney-client relationship has terminated." See Rule 1.6(e). This is re-enforced in Comment 27 to Rule 1.6. There is no exception that says the death of a client breaks the privilege.
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