Interviews with 44 major attorneys defending white-collar criminals in New York are combined with the author's own experience to show how lawyers use legal rules and arguments on behalf of their clients and especially how they work to control the flow of information about their clients' activities. The lawyers' view that their central task is information control is emphasized. Case studies show how lawyers carefully direct their own conversations with clients to keep the clients from revealing too much and how lawyers make every effort to prevent clients and others from providing evidence to government investigators. Ethical questions pertaining to legal practice in the United States are raised, with emphasis on the possible inadequacy of the ethical rules of the bar and the unfair advantage the defense may currently have over the prosecution. Reference notes, an index, and appendixes presenting background data on the study population are included.