Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Swidler & Berlin v. U.S. No. 97-1192 Certiorari granted: 03/30/98 Decision below: 124 F.3d 230 (DC Cir 08/29/97) At issue in this high-stakes case involving the firing of the White House travel office staff is whether grand jury subpoenas obtained by the Office of Independent Counsel for notes of a conversation between now-deceased White House official and his private attorney are protected by the attorney-client or work-product privileges. A divided panel of the court below held that the attorney-client privilege may cease at the death of a client in a criminal matter if the exceptional need for the communication outweighs the interest in confidentiality. In addition, an attorney's notes of an interview with a client would not be protected by the work-product doctrine insofar as the notes recorded purely factual data. Expedited review is planned, and oral argument is scheduled for June 1998. -- Two rules in life: 1. Don't tell people everything you know. 2. Subscribe/Unsubscribe, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the body of the message enter: subscribe/unsubscribe law-issues
