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Keywords

attorneymotionburden of proofattorney-client privilege
attorneymotionattorney-client privilege

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Ryder v. United States, Not Reported in Fed. Supp., 2014 WL 12853505

Facts

Ryder submitted a total of 93 boxes of documents to the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) during an investigation, of which 70 boxes were deemed not privileged and were produced to the government. Ryder claimed privilege over 23 boxes, but the court found that he did not adequately assert this privilege, failing to provide a privilege log or specific categorization of the documents. The court noted that Ryder's blanket assertion of privilege was improper and did not meet the burden of proof required to establish the privilege.

Ryder submitted a total of 93 boxes of documents to the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) during an investigation, of which 70 boxes were deemed not privileged and were produced to the government. Ryder claimed privilege over 23 boxes, but the court found that he did not adequately assert this privilege, failing to provide a privilege log or specific categorization of the documents.

Issue

Whether Ryder properly asserted attorney-client privilege over the 23 boxes of documents and whether his failure to do so constituted a waiver of that privilege.

Whether Ryder properly asserted attorney-client privilege over the 23 boxes of documents and whether his failure to do so constituted a waiver of that privilege.

Rule

The party asserting the attorney-client privilege has the burden of proving that the privilege applies to a given set of documents or communications, and a blanket assertion of privilege is improper and can result in waiver.

The party asserting the attorney-client privilege has the burden of proving that the privilege applies to a given set of documents or communications, and a blanket assertion of privilege is improper and can result in waiver.

Analysis

The court analyzed Ryder's claims of privilege and found that he did not meet the burden of establishing that the documents in the 23 boxes were privileged. Ryder's reliance on blanket assertions without providing a privilege log or specific identification of the documents was deemed insufficient. The court emphasized that Ryder had opportunities to rectify this but failed to do so, leading to the conclusion that he may have waived the privilege.

The court analyzed Ryder's claims of privilege and found that he did not meet the burden of establishing that the documents in the 23 boxes were privileged. Ryder's reliance on blanket assertions without providing a privilege log or specific identification of the documents was deemed insufficient.

Conclusion

The court granted Ryder a limited opportunity to produce a privilege log for the documents in the 23 boxes within 15 days, failing which his motion for relief would be denied. The court denied Ryder's request for a stay.

The court granted Ryder a limited opportunity to produce a privilege log for the documents in the 23 boxes within 15 days, failing which his motion for relief would be denied.

Who won?

The government prevailed in this case as the court found that Ryder did not properly assert the privilege and granted the government access to the 70 boxes of documents.

The government prevailed in this case as the court found that Ryder did not properly assert the privilege and granted the government access to the 70 boxes of documents.

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