Your lawyer asks for the disputed contracts and a chronology of events. You scan, save, and email. Three weeks later the other side's solicitor is asking about a specific draft you'd discussed in an email — apparently in discovery. Privilege survives most accidents, but careful sending makes the privilege easier to defend.
Encrypt sensitive attachments
Send PDFs to your attorney via encrypted email or encrypted attachments. Flint's password tool adds AES-256 encryption in your browser; share the password by text or phone.
For very sensitive matters, ask your firm if they have a client portal — most established firms do. Portal upload beats email for evidence of secure transmission.
Mark documents privileged where appropriate
Communications between you and your attorney *for the purpose of legal advice* are privileged. Documents you create yourself usually aren't (unless created at your attorney's direction).
When sending a document to counsel, the document doesn't become privileged just by being sent — its content has to qualify. Marking 'Privileged and Confidential' helps signal intent but doesn't override the underlying analysis.
Avoid mixing privileged content with everyday email
Don't bury legal-advice content in routine emails to colleagues. Privileged communications should be addressed only to those who need them. Forwarding a legal-advice email to a wider audience can be argued to have waived privilege.
Use a clear naming convention — 'Privileged - Counsel review of XX' — so subsequent reviewers know what to handle carefully.
Retain originals safely
Your attorney will keep records of what you sent. So should you — in case the firm changes, the matter resurfaces, or you need to demonstrate the timeline.
Store originals encrypted on your own device or in a vault. Match what you sent to what's on file. Document timestamps if possible.
FAQ
Does encryption itself create privilege?
No. Encryption protects confidentiality in transit and at rest. Privilege is a legal doctrine about the substance of the communication.
What about my paralegal or assistant?
Including non-lawyer support staff in privileged communications is usually fine as long as they're necessary to the legal advice and bound by confidentiality.
Can I send via consumer cloud (Dropbox, Drive)?
Works for transit; check your attorney's policy. Many firms prefer their own portal for chain-of-custody reasons.
Should I forward emails about the matter to my attorney?
Selectively. Forwarding the relevant ones is fine; forwarding everything risks inadvertent disclosure. Ask your attorney what to include.
Encrypt, label, and send through the channel your attorney trusts. Flint's encryption is the first step.