Although lawyers regularly conduct investigations into clients’ affairs and provide evaluations to their clients, their audience for such work is usually the client only. Thus, attorneys called upon to provide an evaluation of their client to a third party may find themselves in an unfamiliar position. When a client asks an attorney to divulge information to a third party that may otherwise be privileged, attorneys may have questions about their role and whether making such disclosures could ultimately harm the client and their relationship.
Take the example of a law firm retained by a client corporation’s board of directors to review the company’s operations. If the client intends for the results to be shared with third parties, that may impact whether the attorney feels comfortable sharing with third parties any unsavory or less than positive information uncovered during the investigation. This scenario also raises the issue of what information gleaned during the attorney’s investigation will be considered privileged, and if the attorney has any duties to the entities receiving the information.
