Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California

Attorney-client privilege is an attribute of an attorney-client relationship. The exact point at which an attorney has duties to a prospective client, and a prospective client has rights and expectations of the lawyer, is sometimes hard to pinpoint. A mere telephone call asking general questions about an attorney's rates, experience, etc. probably doesn't initiate an attorney-client relationship, but such a relationship probably begins when the client starts making disclosures about details of the proposed representation, and the attorney begins making case-specific observations about the client's subject matter. Certainly, it does not require the payment of fees to initiate privilege or duties.

Typically an Attorney and client relationship is established when exclusive facts of client's case is made known fully or partially to the Attorney for his study and advice.

So it is really a question of what actually happened to pin-point the beginning of this relationship.