US Seeks to Limit Attorney Client Privilege Over Opposition (1)

The US Supreme Court will consider the scope of attorney-client privilege in a case that attorneys say could impact every in-house counsel and the outside lawyers who support them.

The question for the justices at argument on Monday in In re Grand Jury is what test courts should apply to determine whether “dual-purpose” communications—those that contain both legal and business advice—should be shielded by the privilege.

The federal government is alone in advocating for a narrower understanding of the privilege while groups representing specialties as varied as intellectual property and tax attorneys argue a broader one is necessary to capture ...