United States v. Stepney’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

3 federal appellate · 2 district ·

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 9 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Although a limitation on confidentiality between a defendant and his own attorney would pose a severe threat to the true attorney-client relationship, making each defendant somewhat more guarded about the disclosures he makes to the joint defense effort does not significantly intrude on the function of joint defense agreements.... .... Co-defendants may eliminate inconsistent defenses without the same degree of disclosure that would be required for an attorney to adequately represent her client. The legitimate value of joint defense agreements will not be significantly diminished by including a limited waiver of confidentiality by testifying defendants for purposes of cross-examination only.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. United States v. Almeida

2. “Courts have consistently viewed the obligations created by joint defense agreements as distinct from those created by actual attorney-client relationships.... As discussed above, courts have also consistently ruled that where an attorney represents a client whose interests diverge from a party with whom the attorney has previously participated in a joint defense agreement, no conflict of interest arises unless the attorney actually obtained relevant confidential information. This position is inconsistent with a general duty of loyalty owed to former clients, which would automatically preclude an attorney from subsequently representing a client with an adverse interest.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Roosevelt Irrigation District v. Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement & Power District

3. “Although a limitation on confidentiality between a defendant and his own attorney would pose a severe threat to the true attorney-client relationship, making each defendant somewhat more guarded about the disclosures he makes to the joint defense effort does not significantly intrude on the function of joint defense agreements.... Co-defendants may eliminate inconsistent defenses without the same degree of disclosure that would be required for an attorney to adequately represent her client.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 348 F. Supp. 2d 375 - United States v. LeCroy