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Obstacles to the Study of Lawyer-Client Interaction: The Biography of a Failure

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2024

Brenda Danet ,
Kenneth B. Hoffman  and
Nicole C. Kermish
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Abstract

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This paper reports on an attempt by an interdisciplinary team to observe and record on tape lawyer-client interaction in the metropolitan Boston area in 1975-77. Current pressure for greater accountability to the public on the part of the legal profession makes the empirical, observational study of lawyer-client relations a timely, important topic. Despite the investment of much time and energy in creating conditions suitable for such a study, the project team failed to gain access to private lawyer-client encounters. The goal of the paper is to try to account for this failure, to analyze the nature of the obstacles encountered, and to stimulate speculation on how these obstacles might be overcome in the future. It is suggested that the doctrine of attorney-client privilege is the major obstacle which researchers must overcome. The idea of paying attorneys for their cooperation is also considered.

Type
Research Article
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 14 , Issue 4 , Summer 1980 , pp. 905 - 922
Copyright
Copyright © 1981 The Law and Society Association

Footnotes

*

Revised version of Working Paper #7, “Obstacles to the Study of Lawyer-Client Interaction,” Grant SOC-74–23503, National Science Foundation Law and Social Science Program, “The Role of Language in the Legal Process,” Boston University, 1975-1977.

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Cases Cited

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