Legal Profession Commons^™

Defense Counsel As Prosecution Witness: A Combined Doctrine To Govern Attorney Disclosure, David B. Merchant

Washington Law Review

Prosecutors have increasingly used grand juries to compel defense attorneys to disclose client administrative data such as clients' names, fee amounts, or third-party fee payments. A majority of the federal circuit courts protect administrative information only if disclosure would reveal the substance of previous attorney-client conversations. In contrast, a minority of the circuits protect such information when disclosure would incriminate a client in the case at bar. This Comment argues that neither of the current doctrines accomplishes the goals of the attorney-client privilege. Instead, a doctrine that combines the majority and minority views would more effectively promote the policies underlying …