Swidler & Berlin v. United States

Summary

The Court held that the attorney-client privilege survives a client's death and protects confidential communications from compelled disclosure in a criminal investigation absent an applicable exception. Because the Government did not show that reason and experience justified creating a posthumous criminal-investigation exception or balancing test, the Court reversed the appellate judgment and did not reach work-product protection. Justice O’Connor, dissenting, would have recognized a narrow exception when necessary, otherwise unavailable information would serve an innocent defendant's exoneration or a compelling law-enforcement need.