Treasure-Hunter's Trust Documents Might Be in Deep Water

An Ohio federal judge has recognized that he might make a lawyer hand over trust documents that he created for an ex-fugitive, who avoided paying expedition’s financiers after retrieving gold from a ship. The judge notes that the crime-fraud exception to the attorney-client privilege may force the trust documents to be turned over. The ex-fugitive originally had his lawyer set up an offshore trust where he has stashed some of the bounty. Whether the documents are privileged as a threshold matters seems to be an issue of first impression.

 See Samson Habte, Treasure-Hunter’s Lawyer May Have to Reveal Trust Docs, 32 Law. Man. Prof. Conduct 662, November 3, 2016.

Special thanks to Karen E. Boxx (Professor of Law, University of Washington School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.  

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