Ethics

Criminal subpoena enforced against law firms to obtain documents of foreign, unindicted companies

US v. Grand Jury Subpoena served on White & Case LLP.  In a matter with parallel criminal and civil tracks, the civil plaintiffs had obtained documents from foreign companies and the prosecutors wanted the grand jury to see those documents.  The Ninth Circuit held that the grand jury's needs trumped the civil case's protective order, which is not surprising.  The end result, though, is that the documents from abroad, which the grand jury did not have the power to obtain, will now be presented to the grand jury.  That creates an interesting disincentive for foreign clients to produce documents to US lawyers.

Full post as published by Legal Ethics Forum on December 11, 2010 (boomark / email).