Posted by
JimG on Saturday, July 22, 2006 9:57:36 PM
Former NYT Editor Howell Raines (who resigned in disgrace after the Jayson Blair scandal) has let loose a tidbit of information regarding leakers. The confession took place during a discussion of his forthcoming memoirs at the Aspen Institute. Article is located here:
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20060721/NEWS/107210065 (Registration may be required)
At the end of the article, the following exchange is memorialized:
"One audience member asked about the role of media leaks. Raines opted not to go in-depth since he no longer is a working journalist, but offered a bit of a leak of his own:
"Almost all leakers are lawyers. That's the bottom line.""
As a newly graduated attorney, this revelation weighs on me rather heavily. It is logical, as all agencies within the government employ attorneys, who may not play a direct operational role, but who have access to almost all information flowing through their employing agency. Furthermore, they are more likely to be career bureaucrats rather than transient political appointees.
The troubling aspect of this is that these attorneys are not bound only by National Security Acts, confidentiality clauses and the like. They are also subject to a strict code of ethics prohibiting disclosure of communications flowing through their clients; in this case, the clients are the government agencies involved. This prohibition applies whether or not the attorney agrees, for example, with the policies of the President, FBI, CIA, etc. There is no "glorified whistleblower" status to be earned by a loose-lipped attorney.
I would encourage any attorney who knows of a colleague who is disclosing client information to report the leaker to the appropriate state ethics board (which is your responsibility under the Rules of Ethics). Only by making an example of those who disgrace the legal profession in this manner, can the integrity of the profession be preserved, along with the client secrets that just may be protecting our citizens.