Duty of confidentiality

In common law jurisdictions, the duty of confidentiality obliges solicitors, or attorneys, to respect the confidentiality of their clients' affairs. Information that a solicitor obtains about a client's affairs may be confidential and must not be used for the benefit of any person the client has not authorized. The duty therefore covers the client's affairs generally rather than a single kind of document, and confidentiality is a prerequisite for legal professional privilege to hold. The obligation is described for common law jurisdictions, where it binds solicitors and attorneys in their dealings with the people they act for, and it is the foundation on which privilege over what a client tells a lawyer rests in those systems.