In re Donohue
District Court, D. Maine
[In bankruptcy. In the matter of John O. Donohue.] An attorney at law was sworn and interrogated concerning the disposition he had made of certain property, as attorney for his client, a bankrupt He invoked the privilege of an attorney, and declined to answer unless compelled. ' The court directed the witness to answer, and after-' wards filed an opinion.
1Opinion of the Court
FOX, District Judge.
It is a mistake to suppose that an attorney is privileged from answering as to that which comes to his knowledge during his employment as attorney. The privilege only extends to information confided to him by the client. Information derived or obtained from other persons or sources is not privileged. Spenceley v. Schulenburgh, 7 East, 357. The rule does not apply to the discovery of facts within the knowledge of the attorney that were not communicated or confided to him by his client, although he became acquainted with them while engaged in his professional duty in his…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Shanghnessy v. FoggSupreme Court of Louisiana · 1860