Can attorney-client privilege protect confidential disclosures made by a client to an attorney?

The attorney-client privilege protects confidential disclosures made by a client to an attorney in order to obtain legal advice. Fisher v. United States, 425 U.S. 391, 403, 96 S.Ct. 1569, 1577, 48 L.Ed.2d 39 (1976); Schofield, 721 F.2d at 1222. The privilege allows an attorney to avoid what would otherwise be a professional dilemma of cautioning a client against disclosure and rendering perhaps ill-informed legal advice or of learning all the details of a situation and perhaps increasing the perils to the client of disclosure. In re Grand Jury Subpoena Duces Tecum (Shargel), 742 F.2d 61, 64 (2d Cir.1984). The privilege does not permit an attorney to conduct his client's business affairs in secret. Schofield, 721 F.2d at 1222; Matter of Fischel, 557 F.2d 209, 211 (9th Cir.1977).