You are preparing your client to appear at trial the next day. He is the only one available to look after his mother and brings her with him to the meeting with you, his attorney. As you sit in your opulent conference room going over the details of his testimony with his mother hanging on every word, you know that the case is going to be difficult because the plaintiff bank in the adversary proceeding has a personal grudge against your client, who it claims obtained a loan by fraud.

The session is going well enough when the receptionist calls you to tell you that your opposing counsel in the case is waiting outside with some last-minute documents in response to a request you made months ago. You open the conference room door to go meet with the other lawyer only to find him waiting right outside. He hands you the documents and leaves, but you know he got a look inside the conference room before he left.

That night your client's mother receives a subpoena from the bank to appear as a witness to tell what went on in the conference room when you were preparing your client for trial. Does attorney-client privilege protect your trial preparation?

Paul R. Rice, a professor of law at The American University Washington College of Law, has compiled an impressive loose-leaf binder of information on attorney-client privilege in the United States. Filled with annotations, the book covers almost every conceivable issue involving privileged communications between an attorney and client.

The subject matter is covered completely and you will find a history of the privilege, general principles, issues related to the attorney, issues related to the client, a discussion of what communications are covered, a review of confidentiality, legal advice or assistance, and exceptions to the privilege. Each of those topics comprises other related topics.

When does the privilege begin and when does it end? What is the purpose of the communication, and does the purpose have any relationship to whether the communication is covered?

Consider this. You have represented a corporation since you helped to establish it by preparing the articles of incorporation. You have dealt primarily, if not exclusively, with the sole shareholder of the corporation for years. During the ensuing years, you represent the corporation in collection litigation and creditor's bankruptcy matters, and defend it against tort claims.

Each and every communication you have, except for asides dealing with the shareholder's golf game, is related to the policies, operations and litigation strategies of the corporate client. The shareholder comes to you one day and tells you that the corporation's business has dropped off and it is being sued for non-payment of trade debt. In the course of the conversation, he indicates to you that he has taken several unethical measures to diminish the chances that the creditor will be able to find anything of value in the corporation's name.

In short, he has been systematically transferring property from the corporation to a second corporation he had you set up years before but you thought was inactive. You were not aware of the transfers and have some concern as to the legality. You also recognize that the shareholder, who is not your client, is damaging the corporation that is your client.

While you are deciding the best course of action as to your future representation, your accounting department lets you know that the corporation has not paid its last two bills and owes the firm $60,000 in fees and expenses. When you bring the bill to the attention of the shareholder, he promises payment, then stonewalls you.

The firm decides to sue to collect the bills owed by the corporation to it, which now total $95,000 because you just concluded a jury trial at which you successfully defended the corporation from claims totaling $5 million. You terminate your employment and file a collection action against the corporation and the shareholder on an alter-ego theory. The complaint goes unanswered, but the court requires you to support a default judgment motion with affidavits on the issues of liability and damages.

What can you disclose? Have you violated confidentiality by making the allegations in the complaint? What can you say in the affidavits without violating a privilege?

Attorney-Client Privilege In the United States—Second Edition has the answers where there are answers and is helpful in determining responses when there is no clear answer. It is extensive, if not exhaustive, on the subject matter it covers. The only real drawback is that there is no subject-matter index. There is a general table of contents at the front of the book and tables of contents at the beginning of each section that are fairly detailed. An index at the end of the book covering all the topics would be helpful.

While the topic may not seem exciting at first glance, attorney-client privilege is at the heart of our system of jurisprudence, which demands that clients be able to communicate openly with their lawyers. If you want to protect the privilege and yourself from malpractice, get the book. It was a privilege to review it. To order a copy from West Group, call (800) 762-5272, or visit www.westgroup.com.