In the midst of a recent highly politicized case involving the judicial wiretapping of former French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and of his attorney, Thierry Herzog, significant concerns about the permissive French wiretapping laws have emerged. In that case, investigative magistrates ordered the wiretapping of Sarkozy’s personal phone for a period of over a year and subsequently discovered evidence of an additional alleged crime by listening to private phone conversations between Sarkozy and Herzog.1
This article will show why this case is becoming a dangerous example of how the attorney-client privilege can be threatened in foreign jurisdictions and creates a worrisome precedent for American attorneys whose French clients may be otherwise under investigation in France. The French judicial wiretapping practices raise both significant practical and professional responsibility concerns for American attorneys representing French clients.
