The big 'client confidentiality' case every lawyer studies? Yeah, it turns out the lawyers in that case actually leaked the secrets themselves to win.
March 20, 2026
Original Paper
<div> Myth and Narrative in Legal Ethics: <span>What Really Happened in Lake Pleasant</span> </div> <div> <br> </div>
SSRN · 6313998
The Takeaway
For 50 years, the 'Dead Bodies Case' has been the gold standard for teaching lawyers that they must remain silent about a client's crimes. This archival research reveals the lawyers actually disclosed the victims' locations in open court as part of a calculated (and failed) trial strategy, debunking a foundational myth of the legal profession.
From the abstract
The legal profession tells itself stories to help lawyers make sense of what they do and to fortify them in doing it. One such story is the "Dead Bodies Case," which depicts two lawyers--Frank Armani and Francis Belge--as exemplars of professional devotion and courage in the face of popular condemnation of their work . They are lauded for their choice not to disclose the location of the bodies of two young women their client, Robert Garrow, had murdered. <br><br>The standard account of this stor