Page:Laman v. McCord.pdf/8

408 "be protected by profound secrecy. See 1st Greenleaf 303.""

The statute not only protects the client from disclosure by the attorney, it also excuses the client from being compelled to disclose his confidential communications to his attorney or the advice given by the attorney. Casey v. The State, 37 Ark. 67.

Only a small fraction of a city council's need for legal consultation and advice arises in connection with the preparation of cases for trial. Even in pending proceedings the need for confidential communications on settlement possibilities and settlement authority is critical.

I fail to see the analogy between the relationship of the Attorney General and the General Assembly and that of a city attorney and a city council. The duties of the General Assembly are legislative only. Those of a city are often as much in the executive field as the legislative. Certainly the powers of a city council are not limited to legislative functions. It has many duties which are administrative and ministerial.

The doctrine of separation of powers applied at the state level is not usually applied to municipal corporations and has never been regarded as fully appropriate in the performance of municipal functions. McQuillin, Municipal Corporation, §§ 9.20, 10.3; C.J.S. 489, Constitutional Law, § 106. It has not been the practice in Arkansas to separate these powers to any great degree. In a city such as North Little Rock, corporate authority is vested in a mayor and city council. Ark. Stat. Ann. § 19-901 (Repl. 1956). The city council, in addition to all legislative powers, possesses all corporate powers not prohibited by the General Assembly or its own ordinances. § 19-1011. Among its powers are the management and control of finances and of the property of the municipal corporation. § 19-1011. Consequently,