CALIFORNIA EVIDENCE: CIVIL AND CRIMINAL
...Privileges
......Attorney-Client Privilege
.........Disclos. Not Protected: Examples
............Crime-Fraud Exception
15 Cards On This Topic:

No privilege if lawyer's services sought to enable commission of crime.

Procedure for determining confidentiality of documents seized from attorney's offices by search warrant pursuant to crime fraud exemption.

Dist. ct. must allow party seeking discovery of communications and party asserting A/C privilege to present evidence re privilege and crime-fraud exception, and must weigh that evidence before ordering outright disclosure.

In a civil case, when dist. ct. is asked to order outright disclosure of privileged communications, burden of proof on party seeking to vitiate the privilege is preponderance of the evidence.

Court erred in relying on sealed search warrant affidavit to support crime/fraud exception to atty/client privilege where no prima facie showing to support such finding.

No privilege exists for communications intended to further future criminal conduct.

Crime fraud exception does not apply to mere statement of intention to commit crime.

Atty-client privilege not extinguished with corp.'s dissolution; remanded to redetermine whether privilege prevents atty/Ds from defending or whether, because of crime-fraud exception or waiver, privilege is no bar to action.

To invoke Evid. Code §956 exception to attorney-client privilege, proponent must make showing that lawyer's services sought or obtained to enable or aid to commit or plan crime or fraud.

Party claiming no privilege because lawyer obtained to commit crime has burden to establish preliminary facts necessary to application of exception.

Crime fraud exception to attorney client privilege exception not applicable where client does not intend to abuse privilege; uncommunicated wrongdoing by attorney does not result in waiver.

In camera hearing required to determine if attorney-client privilege applies to client files seized from offices of attorneys suspected of fraud.

As properly submitted materials established reasonable cause to believe importers using lawyers in ongoing scheme to evade taxes, court w/in discretion in allowing gov. to compel disclosures under crime-fraud exception.

Privileged communications can be in furtherance of crim. activity, and within crime-fraud exception, even though atty unaware of crime and takes no affirmative step to further.

Government's evidence sufficient to establish threshold for in camera inspection of privileged documents to assess whether crime-fraud exception applied.