Who is the Client of an Elected Prosecutor?

Who is the client of an elected prosecutor? An agency the prosecutor is advising, the elected mayor or executive, the elected council, an individual administrator, the public interest? To whom does the attorney-client privilege belong? What happens if an agency and an official have conflicting interests? These issues were tackled by the last panel of The Prosecutorial Ethic: A Tribute to King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng. Speakers are:

• Hugh D. Spitzer (affiliate professor at the UW and partner at Foster Pepper) (moderator)
• Wayne C. Witkowski, Deputy, Legal Counsel Division, Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia
• Thomas A. Carr, Seattle City Attorney (by the way, Seattle is the only city in the state with an elected city attorney).
• Janice E. Ellis, Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney

One remark: "People should be able to ask their lawyers stupid questions -- even councilmembers."