NCJ Number
116293
Journal
Washington University Law Quarterly Volume: 66 Issue: 1 Dated: (1988) Pages: 47-61
Date Published
1988
Length
25 pages
Annotation
Established Sixth Amendment principles do not support the call for a blanket exemption of attorneys' fees from the reach of the Federal money laundering statute.
Abstract
This statute makes it a crime to engage knowingly in a monetary transaction with a financial institution if the amount of the transaction exceeds $10,000 and the funds are derived from specified criminal activity. The law has generated constitutional controversy regarding the exemption of legitimate attorneys' fees. Those who argue that attorneys' fees must be exempted believe that otherwise the statute would impermissibly chill the attorney-client relationship. However, although the statutory limitation on a lawyer's ability to launder large amounts of tainted money through a financial institution may impede a prospective client's efforts to retain private counsel, it does not inevitably implicate the client's sixth amendment right to counsel. Although some courts in forfeiture cases have invoked the right to counsel on the mere possibility of prejudice, doing so is to take the sixth amendment out of its proper context. 62 footnotes.