Letters, Statements, and Advocacy Materials on Attorney-Client Privilege

The attorney-client privilege is fundamental to fairness and balance in our justice system and essential to corporate compliance regimes. Without reliable privilege protections, executives and other employees will be discouraged from asking difficult questions or seeking guidance regarding the most sensitive situations. Available on this page are a variety of letters, testimony and statements on the decline of the Attorney-Client Privilege and Work-Product Doctrine.  

Advocacy Materials

American Bar Association, Talking Points in Support of the Attorney-Client Privilege Protection Act of 2007, July 2009

Press Release, Coalition to Preserve the Attorney-Client Privilege, "Holder Should Support Executive Order on Attorney-Client Privilege," January 14, 2009, and Coalition Memo – Comprehensive Reform Still Needed to Protect Attorney-Client Privilege and Employee Legal Rights

"Attorney-Client Privilege and the Value in Coalition-Building," The Champion, September 2008

No Retreat Now – The long fight to protect the attorney-client relationship against aggressive prosecutors can only end with legislation, Legal Times, September 1, 2008

ABA Resolution, ABA Task Force on Attorney-Client Privilege, Recommendation 111, August 11, 2005

NACDL Press Releases:

"Legislation Still Needed to Protect Privileges, Right to Counsel," August 28, 2008

"Defense Lawyers Bar Supports Attorney-Client Privilege Protection Bar," July 12, 2007

"DOJ Policy on Privilege Waivers Disappoints Defense Bar," December 13, 2006

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"Defense Lawyers Praise Attorney-Client Privilege Bar," December 7, 2006

"Statement of NACDL President Martin S. Pinales on the ABA’s Resolution on DOJ’s Corporate Compliance Practices," August 9, 2006

NACDL Statement on Corporate Attorney-Client Privilege, March 2, 2006

Letters Submitted to Congress

Letter from Former United States Attorneys, in Support of Attorney-Client Privilege Protection Act, to Senator Leahy, June 20, 2008

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Featured Products

Letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Supporting S. 2450 and Proposed Rule 502, NACDL, January 30, 2008

Examining Approaches to Corporate Fraud Prosecutions and the Attorney-Client Privilege Under the McNulty Memorandum, Statement of the Coalition to Preserve the Attorney-Client Privilege, September 18, 2007

Report to the Senate Judiciary Committee on the McNulty Memorandum, Justice E. Norman Veasey, September 13, 2007

Hearing on: “The McNulty Memorandum’s Effect on the Right to Counsel in Corporate Investigations,” House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, March 8, 2007

Letters Submitted to the U.S. Sentencing Commission

Letter Regarding the Notice of Proposed Amendments, Request for Public Comment, Coalition to Preserve the Attorney-Client Privilege, March 28, 2006

Report of Task Force on Attorney-Client Privilege, New York State Bar Association, March 27, 2006

Request for Public Comment – Chapter 8 Organization Guidelines, Section 8C2.5, Waiver of Attorney-Client Privilege, Boston Bar Association, March 23, 2006

Report of Calbar Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct, California State Bar Association, March 22, 2006

Testimony of Former AUSA Kent Wicker on Behalf of NACDL, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, March 15, 2006

Comment Letters to U.S. Sentencing Commission Regarding Privilege Waiver Issue, August 15, 2005

Letters Submitted to DOJ

Letter from House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers and Crime Subcommittee Chairman Bobby Scott to Attorney General Holder Concerning Attorney-Client Privilege and Work-Product Doctrine, December 16, 2009

Letter from Former DOJ Officials to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, September 5, 2006

NACDL Past President Gerald Lefcourt Testifies Before ABA Task Force on Attorney-Client Privilege, April 21, 2005