When an Email is sent to the wrong person, and it contains a paragraph warning that the "transmission is attorney privileged & confidential," does the UNINTENDED recipient actually have any obligation to maintain confidentiality?
by 
MaineMoody
ANSWERS: 10
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Not in the slightest. Like snail mail, anything you receive is yours. I always crack up at those (and we use them in my company).
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legally, i would think not, because the warning was intended for someone else and it's not like you signed anything. but, it's probably still nice to be confidential if no one could get hurt about it.
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I do not see why anyone would be legally required to maintain confidentiality unless it were a government secret. But I am not an attorney. I wish that an atty would anser this and tell us that he/she is an atty.
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Yes, they do. If they leak any of that info they are not suppost to have they can get in big trouble for violating attorney/client privilage. Doesn't matter how they got it.
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No. The statement protects the information from being devulged by the attorney in a court of law, not others.
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no you cant impose a duty by putting a clause at the end of your email
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Highlander is absolutely correct. It is only for the protection of the attorney or the faxing party. The receiver has no obligation to maintain confidentiality, but it should be done nevertheless.
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The unintended recipient would have no general duty to keep it confidential, but lawyers write that because in some states it will help preserve attorney client privilidge. Thus, if you wanted to use the confidential email as evidence in court it may be excluded, but you have no duty to keep it confidential. As an aside, if an attorney is the unintended recipient, he may have a duty to keep it confidential.
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Yes they do. I worked in a law firm. It was required that this disclaimer was written on the bottom of all faxes and emails. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE in the court's eye.
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The Hebrew Law/ OT commandment NOT to bear false witness, originally applied to Jewish law where two truthful male witnesses were needed for conviction, and there are warnings about favoritism for either party also. By extension, we have minimal legal obligations and laws to govern us, but MORALLY, we are bound to protect reputation, trade secrets, confidentiality on matters that could destroy or harm or endanger lie or limb of property. The 'outing" of Valerie Plame for being a former under-cover CIA agent and the very recent Drudge Report leak that Prince Harry was in Afghanistan on the front line are egregious reckless examples of what gossip can do to endanger human life; and lack of integrity causes it all day long in many organizations and work-places and families, neighborhoods and teh 24/7 too often un-ethical media. Have some integrity and stop looking for precisely narrow legal answers to isssues that are a matter of integrity, character and the fragile bonds that keep us from being human sharks or allligators.
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