Client Info · Privacy
Confidentiality, Privilege, and Your Privacy
What you tell your lawyer stays with your lawyer. How solicitor-client privilege works, what Alberta privacy law requires of us, how we safeguard files, and the narrow exceptions the law recognizes.
People come to a lawyer with the parts of their life they would least like discussed: an allegation, a separation, a debt, a diagnosis, a mistake. Legal advice only works if it is based on the whole picture, and clients only share the whole picture when they are confident it will go no further. That confidence is not a courtesy extended by individual firms. It is built into the law through solicitor and client privilege, into professional regulation through the Law Society of Alberta Code of Conduct, and into statute through privacy legislation.
This page explains how those layers work together at Bhalla Law Offices: what is protected, who inside the firm can see your file, how information is stored and eventually destroyed, and the narrow situations in which the law permits or requires disclosure. If you have a specific concern about how your information will be handled, raise it at the outset. Arrangements can often be adjusted, and it is far easier to plan for a concern than to fix a problem afterwards.
Privilege and confidentiality are not the same thing
The two terms are often used interchangeably, but they operate differently. Understanding the distinction helps you see why some information cannot be compelled from your lawyer at all, while other information is protected by professional duty rather than by evidentiary rule.
Solicitor-client privilege
A rule of substantive law protecting communications between a client and a lawyer made in confidence for the purpose of legal advice. It generally cannot be compelled in court, it survives the end of the retainer, and it continues after death.
The duty of confidentiality
A broader professional obligation under the Law Society of Alberta Code of Conduct. It covers all information about a client matter, however obtained, and applies whether or not the information would be privileged in court.
Litigation privilege
Protects material created for the dominant purpose of existing or contemplated litigation, such as investigation notes and expert working papers. Unlike solicitor-client privilege, it generally ends when the litigation ends.
Privilege belongs to you
The client holds the privilege, not the lawyer. Only you can waive it, and it can be waived accidentally, for example by forwarding legal advice to a third party or discussing it in a group chat.
What we collect and why
We collect personal information only where it is needed to provide legal services, to meet our professional obligations, and to administer your account. As a private sector organisation in Alberta, we are subject to the Personal Information Protection Act, and where personal information crosses provincial or national borders in the course of commercial activity, the federal PIPEDA regime may also apply.
- Identifying information such as your name, date of birth, address, and government identification, as required by Law Society of Alberta client identification and verification rules.
- The facts of your matter, including documents, correspondence, and records provided by you or obtained on your instructions.
- Financial information needed for billing, for trust accounting, and in matters where income or assets are legally relevant.
- Health information where it is relevant, for example in an injury claim or a parenting matter.
- Information about other parties, which is necessary for conflicts checking and to advance your matter.
- Records of our communications with you and with others on your file.
How your information is safeguarded
Access on a need to know basis
Only lawyers and staff working on your matter access your file. Everyone at the firm is bound by the same duty of confidentiality, and that duty continues after they leave.
Physical security
Paper files are kept in secured areas of the office, away from public reception space, and are not left where visitors or delivery personnel could read them.
Electronic safeguards
Systems are password protected, access is limited by role, and confidential documents are exchanged through protected channels rather than as open email attachments where possible.
Careful communication
We confirm how you want to be contacted, whether we may leave voicemail, and whether written correspondence may be sent to a particular address. In safety sensitive matters this is agreed at the start.
Service providers
Where we use outside providers, such as document storage or transcription, we require appropriate confidentiality commitments and use them only for the purpose for which the information was provided.
Discretion in public
We do not discuss client matters in courthouse hallways, elevators, or restaurants, and we will not confirm to a third party that you are a client of the firm.
The limited exceptions
Confidentiality is strong but not absolute, and it is better to know the boundaries in advance. Disclosure is permitted or required only in defined circumstances, and even then we disclose no more than is necessary.
The recognised situations include disclosure you expressly authorise, disclosure required by law or by a court order, disclosure necessary to prevent a clear and imminent risk of death or serious bodily harm, and disclosure needed for a lawyer to defend against an allegation or to collect an account. Communications made to further a crime or a fraud are not privileged in the first place. These exceptions are narrow, and they are interpreted narrowly by the courts.
Privilege can be waived by accident
Forwarding legal advice to a friend, posting about your case online, or discussing the advice in a group message can compromise the protection that would otherwise apply. Keep legal advice between you and the firm, and ask before sharing a letter or opinion with anyone else.
Your rights over your information
- 01
Ask what we hold
You may ask what personal information the firm holds about you and how it has been used. Requests are handled promptly, and we will explain any part of your file that is unclear.
- 02
Request access
Alberta privacy legislation gives individuals a right of access to their own personal information, subject to exceptions, including where information is privileged or relates to a third party.
- 03
Request a correction
If information we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, tell us and we will correct the record or note your requested correction where the original document cannot be altered.
- 04
Set your communication preferences
Tell us how to contact you, whether voicemail is safe, what address may receive mail, and who at your end may or may not be spoken to about your matter.
- 05
Raise a concern with us
Speak to the lawyer on your file first. Most privacy concerns arise from a practical detail, such as where correspondence is being sent, and can be resolved the same day.
- 06
Escalate if needed
If a concern is not resolved, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta oversees the Personal Information Protection Act, and the Law Society of Alberta oversees professional conduct.
File retention and destruction
When a matter concludes we send a closing letter, return original documents that belong to you, and place the file into storage. Files are retained for a defined period that reflects Law Society of Alberta requirements, applicable limitation periods, and the nature of the matter. Certain records, including trust accounting records, are subject to their own retention rules.
At the end of the retention period, files are destroyed securely: paper is shredded and electronic records are deleted from active systems. Because storage does not last forever, keep your own copies of anything you may need in the long term, such as court orders, agreements, wills, land documents, and settlement releases. If you would like your file returned rather than stored at the conclusion of the matter, tell us and we will arrange it.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Privilege attaches to communications made for the purpose of obtaining legal advice, including during a consultation that does not lead to a retainer, and we owe a separate professional duty of confidentiality to anyone who consults us. This is why intake collects the names of other parties first, so a conflict can be identified before you describe the matter in detail.
Generally no. Solicitor-client privilege is treated by Canadian courts as close to absolute and is protected as a fundamental principle. It cannot be overridden simply because the information would be useful to another party. The narrow exceptions include a clear and imminent risk of serious harm and communications made to further a crime or a fraud.
No. The duty of confidentiality continues indefinitely, and solicitor-client privilege survives both the end of the retainer and the death of the client. A former client receives the same protection as a current one. Litigation privilege is different, as it generally expires when the litigation it was created for comes to an end.
Only the lawyers and support staff who are working on your matter or who need access for administration such as billing and file management. Everyone at the firm is bound by the same duty of confidentiality, that duty survives the end of their employment, and access to electronic records is limited by role rather than being open to all staff.
Not without your instructions. Even a well meaning relative who is paying your account has no automatic right to information about your matter, because the client holds the privilege. If you want someone to receive updates or attend meetings, tell us and we will record that authorisation. You can also withdraw it at any time.
Ordinary email is convenient but not especially secure, and messages can be seen by anyone with access to the device or account. For sensitive material we prefer the secure portal or a protected delivery method. Tell us if an email address is shared with another person, particularly in family or criminal matters, and we will use a different channel.
Related pages
The information on this page is general in nature and is not legal advice. Every matter depends on its own facts. Contact Bhalla Law Offices to discuss your situation with a lawyer licensed in Alberta.