Opinion ID: 780711
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Selection and Compilation Exception

Text: 13 Appellants submit that an exception to this third-party documents rule applies when an attorney has so specifically selected and compiled such documents in anticipation of litigation that production would necessarily reveal the attorney's developing strategy. This argument relies largely on decisions in two civil cases from outside this circuit: Sporck v. Peil, 759 F.2d 312 (3d Cir.1985); and Shelton v. American Motors Corp., 805 F.2d 1323 (8th Cir.1986). In both cases, the issue was not so much whether the work product doctrine shielded counsel from producing certain documents, for it appears they had been produced in the course of discovery; rather, the issue was whether counsel was obliged to identify from voluminous discovery materials those discrete documents that the attorney had selected for review with his client in advance of deposition, see Sporck v. Peil, 759 F.2d at 313, or that an attorney specifically recalled as existing in her client's files, see Shelton v. American Motors Corp., 805 F.2d at 1326. The courts ruled that such narrowly focused inquiries constituted impermissible intrusions into attorneys' thought processes in preparing their clients' defenses. See Shelton v. American Motors Corp., 805 F.2d at 1329; 2 Sporck v. Peil, 759 F.2d at 316. 14 Citing Sporck, we too have observed that where a request is made for documents already in the possession of the requesting party, with the precise goal of learning what the opposing attorney's thinking or strategy may be, even third-party documents may be protected. In re Grand Jury Subpoenas (Paul Weiss), 959 F.2d at 1166-67 (distinguishing Sporck by noting, inter alia, that the subpoenaed telephone records appeared to be unavailable to the grand jury except from the law firm). That, however, is clearly not this case. The grand jury does not already possess the bank records subpoenaed from Akin Gump, at least not all of them. 3 Further, the challenged subpoenas, in demanding any and all records for thirty specific Swiss bank accounts, are designed not to glean what [bank records Akin Gump] deems relevant but to mirror MLAT requests that the government has pursued without success for more than two years. Id. at 1167 (holding that request for all telephone records for seven numbers over five-year period presented minimal risk of disclosing attorney's thought processes). Indeed, at oral argument, prosecutors represented that they will not attempt to authenticate the subpoenaed bank records through a member of the Akin Gump firm. 15 Appellants submit that work product protection for an attorney's selection and compilation of third-party documents should not depend on the subjective intent of the prosecutors, but rather on an objective consideration of whether the disclosure of the documents will necessarily reveal the attorney's thought processes in anticipation of litigation. We agree that subjective intent is only one among many factors to be weighed in making an objective determination of whether documents constitute work product. But that conclusion hardly benefits appellants. 16 Not every selection and compilation of third-party documents by counsel transforms that material into attorney work product. To fit within what we have repeatedly characterized as a narrow exception to the general rule that third-party documents in the possession of an attorney do not merit work product protection, Gould, Inc. v. Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co., 825 F.2d at 680; accord In re Grand Jury (Paul Weiss), 959 F.2d at 1167, the party asserting the privilege must show a real, rather than speculative, concern that counsel's thought processes in relation to pending or anticipated litigation will be exposed through disclosure of the compiled documents, id. This burden of objective proof cannot be met through conclusory ex parte affidavits, such as those filed by appellants with the district court in this case, which simply assert that Akin Gump possesses only a subset of the materials subpoenaed and that this subset was created pursuant to a carefully orchestrated defense strategy. Akin Gump's failure to disclose that strategy ex parte to the district court made it impossible for Judge Chin to determine — and makes it impossible for us to review — whether the responsive subset indeed reflects Akin Gump's discriminating selection, or, instead, whether the subset is simply the product of document maintenance practices by the various banks, a lack of cooperation from some of the account holders, or some combination of these and other factors. Without such disclosure, no court can decide if Akin Gump's work product concern is real, or only speculative. Similarly troubling is the firm's failure to identify or submit the responsive documents for in camera review, a practice both long-standing and routine in cases involving claims of privilege. See generally, In re Dow Corning Corp., 261 F.3d 280, 282-83 (2d Cir.2001) (submitting documents to district court for in camera review of attorney-client and work product claims); In re Richard Roe, Inc., 168 F.3d 69, 71 (2d Cir.1999) (reviewing documents in camera to evaluate claims of attorney-client and work product protection); United States v. Adlman, 134 F.3d at 1204 (conducting in camera review of memorandum for which work product protection was asserted); In re Six Grand Jury Witnesses, 979 F.2d 939, 942 (2d Cir.1992) (reviewing cost analyses in camera where witnesses claimed preparation was at behest of counsel and constituted work product); In re Grand Jury Subpoenas (Paul Weiss), 959 F.2d at 1162 (finding, after in camera review, that subpoenaed telephone company records did not constitute attorney work product); Gould, Inc. v. Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co., 825 F.2d at 680 (vacating district court's order quashing subpoena given its failure to develop record on claim of work product privilege, including failure to conduct in camera inspection of subpoenaed documents, and to particularize its findings). Without reviewing the documents, the district court could not ascertain whether Akin Gump's collection was missing only a few bank records out of a voluminous mass, see In re Grand Jury Subpoenas (Paul Weiss), 959 F.2d at 1167 (holding that where document compilation is voluminous, risk of disclosing attorney strategy is minimized), or whether the subset consisted of so few records focused on such discrete transactions that counsel's strategic thinking was apparent, or something in between the two. Moreover, without the documents, the district court could not consider the possibility of issuing a protective order that disclosed some, if not all, of the account records in Akin Gump's possession to the grand jury, thereby confounding any conclusions that might be drawn about counsel's selection strategy. See generally Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(b)(3) (providing for protective orders when the government demonstrates substantial need for privileged material and no alternative source). 17 In sum, both the law and the facts support the district court's conclusion that appellants failed to demonstrate a real rather than speculative concern that Akin Gump's production of its collection of Swiss bank records to the grand jury would necessarily reveal counsel's thought processes in anticipation of litigation. We hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion in ruling that appellants failed to satisfy the burden of proof that rests with a party asserting privilege.