Who Should Define Arizona’s Corporate Attorney–Client Privilege?: Asserting Judicial Independence Through the Power to Regulate the Practice of Law

This Article recounts the tumultuous history of Arizona’s corporate attorney–client privilege. It explores how the court might best address the constitutionality of a 1994 statute that “overruled” its earlier decision defining the proper scope of the corporate attorney–client privilege. While the court’s chief device for preserving its independence in the face of undue legislative intrusion is the constitutional separation-of-powers principle, it is unclear which specific power the court should rely on. The Article develops the novel argument that the judiciary’s authority to regulate the practice of law empowers the court to strike down the corporate-privilege legislation and assert its independence.