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The Attorney-Client Privilege, Thomas C. Dawson Jr., John T. Tucker Iii, Kevin J. Whyte

University of Richmond Law Review

History suggests that the attorney-client privilege is the oldest of the evidentiary privileges. It probably arose at common law during the 1500's, concurrent with the right to trial by jury. Judges initially viewed the privilege as a vindication of "the oath and the honor of the attorney." However, during the late 1700's, courts began to assert that the privilege's purpose was to encourage clients to make full disclosure to their counsel, by "providing subjectively for the client's freedom of apprehension." In 1871, the Virginia Supreme Court5 stated that "[i]f the privilege did not exist at all, every one would be …