Employment references: nurse sues former supervisor for defamation, lawsuit thrown out.
After an LPN was suspended from her position at a nursing home she resigned to avoid further disciplinary issues. She had been accused of failing to dispense medications to her patients. After working at several other nursing homes for more than two years she put in an...

New York's immediate need for a psychotherapist-patient privilege encompassing psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers.
INTRODUCTION Accused of strangling his girlfriend Gloria to death, Robert Wilkins testified at trial that his girlfriend had attacked him first, causing him to suffer visible slashes on his left wrist and on his abdomen. (1) Attempting to contradict Wilkins's allegations, the People sought to introduce the...

Dead men's lawyers tell no tales: the attorney-client privilege survives death.
Swidler & Berlin v. United States, 118 S. Ct. 2081 (1998) I. INTRODUCTION In Swidler & Berlin v. United States,(1) the United States Supreme Court held that there is no posthumous exception to the attorney-client privilege for communications with substantial impact on criminal proceedings. In...

The attorney-client privilege for in-house counsel when negotiating contract.
Traditionally, corporate executives in need of legal advice turned to private, outside law firms. Today, however, executives increasingly are seeking legal advice from "corporate" or "in-house" attorneys.(1) Studies estimate that ten percent of all practicing attorneys work for corporations.(2) The work of these attorneys has changed significantly in recent...

The governmental attorney-client privilege: whether the right to evidence in a state grand jury investigation pierces the privilege in New York State.
I. INTRODUCTION Whether a New York State government official represented by a government attorney can invoke the evidentiary attorney-client privilege when faced with a state grand jury subpoena has not been explicitly addressed by either New York State courts or the New York State Legislature. If a...

A "public assets" theory of lawyers' pro bono obligations.
Introduction A. Mandatory Pro Bono Obligations B. The Public Assets Theory I. The Call For Pro Bono Programs A. Crisis In Legal Services 1. Lawyers' Role 2. Officers of the Court B. Monopoly Theory C....

The Law: Executive Privilege: Definition and Standards of Application.
A core issue in the scandal that led to the impeachment of Bill Clinton was the president's elaborate use of executive privilege. Although nowhere mentioned in the Constitution, executive privilege has a long history in presidential politics. Presidents since George Washington have claimed the right to withhold information from...

Managing the quagmire of counseling in a school: bringing the parents onboard.
The American School Counselor Association's Ethical Standards for School Counselors respects parents' rights and responsibilities toward their children and at the same time addresses confidentiality as the professional school counselor's primary responsibility. Educating parents and students about privacy, confidentiality, and privileged communication helps the professional school counselor avoid misunderstandings...

Eight reasons to read Professional School Counseling.
In this column, I'd like to make a strong argument for why practicing school counselors, as well as counselor educators and school counseling graduate students, should make a habit of reading Professional School Counseling. I'll use examples from the articles in this issue to bolster my case. Clearly this...

Improving the peer review process.
If you are unfairly peer reviewed by your competition and your hospital privileges are suspended, you don't have any recourse with the current system ("A Matter of Privilege," Law & Medicine, Jan. 15, 2008, p. 34). The decision to suspend or not suspend you is made by...