Does attorney-client privilege apply to a claim of ineffective counsel?

The attorney-client privilege is a creature of state law, and is not grounded in the Constitution. See Maness v. Meyers, 419 U.S. 449, 461 n. 8 (1975) (distinguishing Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, made applicable to the states by the Fourteenth Amendment, from state-law privileges including the attorney-client privilege).

To establish a constitutional violation based on the ineffective assistance of counsel, a petitioner must show (1) that counsel's representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness, and (2) that counsel's deficient performance prejudiced the defense. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 692, 694 (1984). Prejudice means that the error actually had an adverse effect on the defense. There must be a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different. Id. at 693-94.

C. The State Court's Ruling