Some confidences are so sacred that it's almost heresy to argue they should not remain secret -- doctor-patient; priest-confessor; Vice President Dick Cheney and his energy task force.
And for years, attorney-client privilege seemed just as inviolable. It is, after all, a core principle of the justice system that communication between an attorney and client should be unfettered and shielded from public view.
But the run of corporate scandals in recent years has even the American Bar Association looking at the possibility of allowing lawyers to spill the beans if their clients commit financial crimes.
Law.com's The Recorder has the details of the privilege controversy here.