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Professionals Keep Secrets Professionals don’t talk about their clients’ divorce, reason for moving, financial stresses, or deadlines to get out of the house. By Brian Swan
I
n 1973, Frank Armani and another lawyer, Francis Belge, were appointed to represent Robert Garrow for the murder of Philip Domblewski, an 18-year-old college student. When Armani and Belge met with their client, Garrow admitted to more than killing just Domblewski, he told them that he had previously murdered three other people and where he dumped their bodies. The lawyers told no one about the confession for over a year, nor did they disclose the location of the bodies. It wasn’t until the information came out at trial that Armani and Belge were able to publicly acknowledge that they knew all along of the murders and where the victims’ remains were. The two defenders were hailed in the legal
14 | Salt Lake Realtor ® | June 2018
profession for their staunch and zealous advocacy— their strict adherence to the sacred attorney-client privilege—but they were excoriated in the court of public opinion. Their law practices crumbled. They received hate mail and death threats. They lost life-long friends. Their lives were turned upside down for keeping their client’s secrets. Ethics complaints were filed against the lawyers and a grand jury was assembled to indict them. However, the complaints and the indictment were all dismissed because the law honors the attorney—the professional—as the ultimate protector of secrets. The story is famous in legal ethics classes. It illustrates how unapologetic and ferociously (continued on page 18)