Limits to Attorney-Client Confidentiality: A Philosophically Informed and Comparative Approach to Medical and Legal Ethics

The proper limits to attorney-client confidentiality are hotly debated by lawyers and legal scholars. Various drafts of the proposed Model Rules of Professional Conduct have included controversial provisions which call for the disclosure of adverse evidence and client perury, as well as more liberal disclosure of completed and intended client wrongdoing than is currently permitted under the Model Code of Professional Responsibility. This Article takes a comparative approach to the problem, utilizing a body of philosophical literature which explores the principle of confidentiality in the physician-patient context This philosophically informed approach sets out an analytical framework in which the controversies surrounding attorney-client confidentiality can be critically evaluated and provides new insights into a continuing debate