Court Opinion

ID: 9726713
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 13:05:05.093187+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:25:29.928571
License: Public Domain

Nolan, J.
(dissenting). The attorney-client privilege is the product of hallowed tradition. Despite the majority’s inflexible ruling today, however, the privilege is not absolute. Several exceptions have been carved out over time in the context of: parties claiming through the same deceased client (Phillips v. Chase, 201 Mass. 444 [1909]); disputes between clients who share the same attorney (Thompson v. Cashman, 181 Mass. 36 [1902]); communications involving a client’s intent to commit a future crime (Commonwealth v. Dyer, 243 Mass. 472, 505-506 [1922], cert, denied, 262 U.S. 751 [1923]); and a deceased client’s instructions on the drafting of a will (Doherty v. O’Callaghan, 157 Mass. 90 [1892]).
It has been noted that the rationale of the privilege is that “the detriment to justice from a power to shut off inquiry to pertinent facts in court, will be outweighed by the benefits to justice (not to the client) from a franker disclosure in the lawyer’s office” (emphasis added). McCormick, Evidence §87, at 175 (2d ed. 1972). Accordingly, the court should adopt a limited exception to the privilege in those cases *487where the interests of the client are so insignificant and the interests of justice in obtaining the information so compelling, that the administration of justice is better served through waiver.
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, in 1838, recognized just such an exception. Hamilton v. Neel, 1 Watts 517, 521-522 (1838). In Hamilton, the court stated in reference to the attorney-client privilege that, “where it is impossible that the rights or the interests of the client can be affected by the witness’s giving evidence of what came to his knowledge by his having been counsel and acted at the time as attorney or counsel at law, the rule has no application whatever, because the reason of it does not exist.” The proposition was more recently reiterated in a 1976 decision of the Pennsylvania Superior Court, Cohen v. Jenkintown Cab Co., 238 Pa. Super. 456, 464 (1976). In Cohen, the judge stated that the attorney-client privilege exists to aid in the administration of justice, and when that administration óf justice is frustrated by the exercise of the privilege, the judge may order disclosure. This proposition from Cohen was cited with approval by the Supreme Court of Nebraska in League v. Vanice, 221 Neb. 34 (1985).
In Cohen, the court used a three-part test to determine whether the interests of justice warranted a waiver of the privilege. The test set out in Cohen involved consideration of: (1) the impact the disclosure would have on the client’s daily affairs; (2) whether the disclosure would likely lead to liability for the client or his estate, and (3) whether disclosure would “blacken the memory” of the deceased client. Id. at 462-464.
A modified version of that test ought to be adopted in Massachusetts. I would suggest a three-step approach for a judge to utilize in determining when to override the attorney-client privilege in the interests of justice. Before there is any disclosure of the substance of an attorney-client conversation, the judge ought to first make a preliminary finding under the Cohen factors. If the judge is satisfied that, regardless of what the substance of the disclosure may turn out to be, *488there would be a minimal impact on the client’s interests, then the judge may order a limited,, in camera disclosure of the substance of the conversation.
Second, once the judge knows the substance of the disclosure, he or she would reapply the Cohen factors. If the judge is satisfied that the harm to the client’s interests is minimal, the judge should then proceed to step three, a balancing of the competing societal interests. The judge must balance the interests of society in being able to utilize the information against its interest in maintaining the public confidence in the attorney-client privilege. Only if the judge finds that the impact on the public’s confidence would be slight compared to the public harm caused by the absence of disclosure, should the judge override the privilege. If the judge determines that the privilege is not to be overridden in a particular case, all persons privy to the in camera disclosure would be bound by the privilege and could not reveal the confidences.
■When the above analysis is applied to the instant case, it becomes apparent that a lower court judge would have been warranted in ordering at least an in camera disclosure of the substance of the attorney-client conversation. First, even without knowing the exact content of the conversation, disclosure appears unlikely to harm the client. The disclosure could not possibly have any effect on Charles Stuart’s affairs because he is dead. Second, the estate apparently has few or no assets and thus any liability is largely irrelevant. Third, given the present reputation of Charles Stuart, it is difficult to conceive of any revelation which could further deface his memory.
If the in camera disclosure supports this preliminary finding, the judge would then face the delicate task of balancing the relative public harms which would result from a disclosure or lack thereof. The Commonwealth asserts that, in this case, society has an interest in learning the truth behind these murders. This should be balanced against society’s need for public confidence in the attorney-client privilege. Although I would remand the case for a determination *489whether the privilege should be overridden in this case, I would acknowledge that simply gaining information for the sole purpose of obtaining a conviction is not, in most instances, sufficient to override the privilege. However, a situation where a murderer is still at large and likely to strike again would be a compelling example of a case in which the societal interest in preserving the privilege would yield to disclosure.
Under the court’s analysis, there is no “safety valve,” no mechanism by which the attorney-client privilege may ever be overridden by the court in the interests of justice. I would urge the court to adopt this very narrow “interests of justice” exception. I would remand the case to the Superior Court for a determination of how this case should indeed be decided in the light of the three-step approach enunciated in this opinion.
Accordingly, I dissent.