A trio of cases arising out of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse mess at Penn State reminds us of the complexities associated with defining client identity when dealing with corporate entities. During the investigation of the matter, and before anyone was arrested, three Penn State officials met with the university’s general counsel, Cynthia Baldwin, to discuss what folks discuss with lawyers before they go to a grand jury. Later, Baldwin herself testified at a grand jury, and revealed what the officials had said to her in their private meetings. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, finding that Baldwin had breached attorney-client confidentiality, quashed the charges against each of the clients that were based on the testimony from Baldwin.
Now you might think, as I did when I first heard of the matter, that Baldwin was just clueless and confused as to her duties when representing both a governmental entity and its employees. But it turns out she is a former justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, so she is presumably a cut above the lawyers typically found in such offices. If she got confused, maybe it was complicated.
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