Executive’s Power to Waive Attorney Privilege Needs New Look

Whether an executive had the authority to waive a medical device company’s attorney-client privilege, and did so, must be addressed by a federal district court, a federal appeals court said Wednesday.

The opinion by Judge Julie Rikelman for the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit set out some standards for using the involvement-of-counsel defense in criminal trials.

Aditya Humad was the chief financial officer for SpineFrontier Inc. He, the company, and its Chief Executive Officer Kingsley Chin were charged with violating the Anti-Kickback Statute. Convicting them required showing that they “knowingly” and improperly induced surgeons to use their ...