New York Law (NYLE) Practice Exam

Privilege stands in all the following scenarios except:

1. The client does not in fact retain the attorney.

2. The attorney's law clerk is present during the communication.

3. The client is a corporate representative.

4. The prospective client allows a friend to be present during the conversation.

The correct answer is: The prospective client allows a friend to be present during the conversation.

In this context, privilege refers to the legal principle that protects certain communications from being disclosed in legal proceedings. Such privilege is generally designed to maintain confidentiality between an attorney and their client. When a client has a conversation with an attorney, the presence of third parties can affect the confidentiality of that conversation. In the scenario where the prospective client allows a friend to be present during the conversation, the presence of that friend can terminate the attorney-client privilege. This is because privilege is generally predicated on the idea that the communication is intended to be confidential between the attorney and the client. If a third party is present and involved in the discussion, it compromises that confidentiality. In contrast, the other scenarios demonstrate circumstances where privilege can still stand. For instance, if a client does not retain the attorney, communications may not be privileged because there was no established attorney-client relationship. Similarly, communications involving a law clerk may still be protected if they relate to legal work and the clerk is acting within the scope of their duties. The corporate representative scenario also maintains privilege, as communications made by a corporate representative on behalf of the corporation are generally considered privileged under the corporate attorney-client privilege doctrine. Overall, the critical aspect is that the presence of third parties, such as a friend,