Supreme Court Wades Into Attorney-Client Privilege

Lawyers and clients, take note: on January 9, 2023, the Supreme Court heard oral argument on probably one of the most consequential cases on the scope of the attorney-client privilege in decades. In re Grand Jury, 23 F.4^th1088 (9th Cir. 2021), cert granted, 143 S. Ct. 80 (2022), a tax case, addresses the application of the attorney-client privilege to "multipurpose" communications involving legal and non-legal topics. Many federal and state courts currently use the "primary purpose" test, under which a communication is privileged if the primary purpose of the communication was seeking legal advice. The Petitioner in In re Grand Jury argues the primary purpose test offers too little protection and advocates for a broader standard that protects communications where legal advice is a "significant" or "bona fide" purpose.