We have all become familiar with the term “attorney-client privilege,” right? After all, either we have been sued, done the suing or know someone who has been in a legal wrangle for any number of reasons.

While attorney-client privilege is considered sacred in the court system, as a term it can be thrown around a lot and actually not have much teeth or significance. If you, as a safety professional, are involved in a legal matter in regards to company safety, do you know how far that attorney-client privilege extends?

Here is a quick little primer for you, to make sure you don’t make a big mistake that costs you or your company a large sum of money or a license to operate.

[Image courtesy of New York Daily News via a Creative Commons license]Attorney-client privilege is thrown about in regards to virtually all conversations, but the privilege is not extended all that far.

First of all, it’s better to not admit any wrongdoing to your attorney. Why? Attorney-client privilege is not as much of a comfort as you might think – it does not apply to material statements of fact nor to any documents that may determine guilt or innocence. Anything having to do with facts of the case is considered unprivileged information, and thus must be disclosed to the court and/or the opposing legal counsel as part of discovery.

In other words, the privileged conversations only apply to discussions about strategy or any specific advice the attorney might give the client, or any questions the client may ask the attorney in regards to advice or strategy. But here are some other notes to consider:

When you are in a privileged conversation with your attorney, do NOT write anything down. There is a chance that anything that is written down or otherwise recorded could become unprivileged under certain circumstances. Don’t take the chance; just remember what is discussed for your own sake.

If you are involved in the lawsuit and your bring your spouse with you to a meeting with your attorney, and you expect to have a privileged conversation, forget it. Having an involved third party in the room defeats the entire purpose of the attorney-client relationship – unless you are being sued personally and the attorney was jointly hired by both of you. In the case of meeting with the company’s attorney, you cannot have any third party in on the conversation in order to protect the privilege.

Just remember that the privilege only extends to conversations that are not directly related to the facts of the case, and instead focus on strategy and advice in handling the case. Knowing this will help you keep watch on your own interests and the interests shared with the company.