Most Lawyers in Poll Back Client Privilege

A majority of lawyers surveyed by a legal magazine said an attorney should not be compelled to divulge anything a client tells him even if the client dies--despite assertions made by independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr. The question is before the Supreme Court, which must soon decide whether Starr’s investigation can properly demand notes taken by a lawyer in his conversations with Vincent Foster shortly before the former White House deputy counsel’s suicide in 1993. In the poll of 403 attorneys conducted for the National Law Journal, 65% disagreed with Starr and said the attorney-client privilege should survive the death of the client, even if a grand jury demands the information. Only 17% took Starr’s position in the argument. The rest were undecided.