Who is the agent in attorney client privilege when the client is mentally ill?

Answer 1

The answer depends in large part upon what state you're in. That being said, nothing in the attorney/client relationship changes (at least in my jurisdiction) by virtue of the client having a mental illness. What may affect the relationship is if the client's mental illness leads client to be incapacitated to make decisions as to disclosing information. In my jurisdiction attorneys are obligated to maintain as normal an atty./client relationship as reasonably possible when a client is incapacitated. Attorneys are permitted to disclose information provided by client in limited circumstances if it appears reasonably necessary to protect client's interest, if non-disclosure will lead to a serious harm, and the disclosure is as limited as possible. There's a question of whether a court-appointed guardian could request information from client's attorney on client's behalf. I've never come across that issue, but my uninformed position would be that if attorney didn't think it behooved client to disclose confidential information then atty. ought seek court clarification before disclosing information to client's guardian.