# duty of confidentiality

> attorney's obligation respect the confidentiality of their clients' affairs

**Wikidata**: [Q5317580](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5317580)  
**Wikipedia**: [English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duty_of_confidentiality)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/duty-of-confidentiality

## Summary
The duty of confidentiality is a legal obligation, specifically an attorney's obligation to respect the confidentiality of their clients' affairs. It is a fundamental principle within the legal profession that governs the relationship between a lawyer and their client. This duty ensures that information shared by a client remains private and is not disclosed without the client's consent.

## Key Facts
-   **Subclass Of:** The duty of confidentiality is a specific type of `Q109020218`.
-   **Wikidata Description:** It is defined as an "attorney's obligation respect the confidentiality of their clients' affairs".
-   **Freebase ID:** Its identifier in the Freebase knowledge graph is `/m/0b84gh`.
-   **Microsoft Academic ID:** Its discontinued identifier from Microsoft Academic was `2780926748`.
-   **Wikipedia Presence:** It has a primary Wikipedia article titled "Duty of confidentiality" in English.
-   **Sitelink Count:** It has Wikipedia sitelinks in 1 language.

## FAQs
**What is the duty of confidentiality?**
It is a legal obligation that requires an attorney to maintain the privacy of all information related to a client's affairs. This duty is central to the attorney-client relationship, fostering trust and enabling open communication.

**Who does the duty of confidentiality apply to?**
This duty applies specifically to attorneys in their professional capacity. It governs how they handle any information, both big and small, that they learn through their representation of a client.

**How is the duty of confidentiality categorized?**
In knowledge bases, the duty of confidentiality is classified as a subclass of a broader category of obligations or concepts, identified by the entity `Q109020218`.

## Why It Matters
The duty of confidentiality is a cornerstone of the legal system. It is essential for building the trust necessary for a client to be completely honest with their attorney, which in turn allows the attorney to provide the most effective legal representation. Without this duty, clients might withhold critical information for fear of exposure, severely compromising the quality of legal advice and the integrity of the justice process. Its significance extends to upholding the ethical standards of the legal profession itself.

## Notable For
-   Being a fundamental ethical rule specifically governing the conduct of attorneys.
-   Establishing the principle that client-attorney communications are privileged and protected.

## Body
### Core Definition
The duty of confidentiality is defined as an attorney's obligation to respect the confidentiality of their clients' affairs. It is a professional responsibility that forms the basis of the attorney-client relationship.

### Knowledge Base Classification
In structured knowledge graphs, the entity "duty of confidentiality" is systematically categorized. It is identified as a **subclass of** a broader parent entity, `Q109020218`. This places it within a specific hierarchy of related concepts.

### External Identifiers
The entity is tracked across multiple knowledge systems using unique identifiers.
-   Its **Freebase ID** is `/m/0b84gh`. Freebase was a large collaborative knowledge base.
-   Its **Microsoft Academic ID** was `2780926748`. This identifier was used in the now-discontinued Microsoft Academic service.

### Wikipedia Representation
The concept has a documented presence on Wikipedia. The primary English-language article is titled "Duty of confidentiality". Currently, the entity has sitelinks connecting it to Wikipedia editions in **1 language**.