Swidler & Berlin v. United States

Summary

The Court held that the attorney-client privilege survives the client's death and protects Hamilton's notes of his consultation with Vincent Foster from disclosure in the criminal investigation. It rejected a posthumous exception based on balancing the importance of the evidence against confidentiality, reasoning that such uncertainty would undermine candid attorney-client communications. The Court did not decide whether exceptional circumstances involving a criminal defendant's constitutional rights could justify disclosure, and it did not reach work-product protection. Justice O'Connor, joined by Justices Scalia and Thomas, dissented. She would permit disclosure of otherwise unavailable information when a criminal defendant's need for exculpatory evidence or a compelling law-enforcement interest outweighs posthumous confidentiality, and would affirm the Court of Appeals' remand for that assessment.