Update on In Re Grand Jury: US Supreme Court Dismisses Case Regarding Attorney-Client Privilege in “Dual-Purpose Communications”

The suspense and anticipation were fun while they lasted, but proved quite short-lived for those of us excitedly awaiting the US Supreme Court’s consideration of an interesting question regarding attorney-client privilege. While oral argument was held in the case of In re Grand Jury, the US Supreme Court ultimately dismissed the case.

As discussed in more detail in a prior post on this blog, the In re Grand Jury case concerned the issue of determining whether attorney-client privilege covers “dual purpose communications” in which both legal advice and business guidance are discussed. As a result, this case garnered the attention of those familiar with the different standards employed by some US federal judicial circuits and interested in the bounds and scope of attorney-client privilege.

The US Supreme Court’s short opinion states, in full: “The writ of certiorari is dismissed as improvidently granted.”