NO CLE - The Attorney/Client Privilege in Consumer Bankruptcy Cases

This panel will address a multitude of issues relating to the attorney client privilege that can arise in a bankruptcy case. These include: a general review of the privilege and client confidentiality; whether the privilege applies to the disclosures that a debtor makes to his or her attorney, or to the attorney's advice to the debtor, in the course of preparing the schedules; the case law on whether the trustee can control the privilege after a bankruptcy is filed, for example, in obtaining information from the debtor's pre-petition personal injury attorney; whether the privilege applies in a hearing under § 329; whether the privilege applies to disclosures required in an attorney fee application or to disclosures requested by the court in a hearing on an application; and the scope of the crime-fraud exception to the privilege in Michigan, and when that exception might apply in apply in bankruptcy cases.