Opinion ID: 529953
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Marston's Testimony

Text: 90 The government called David W. Marston, GB's attorney, to testify as to Furst's statements at the October, 1986, meeting between GB officers, Richard East, and Furst. Furst asserted that his communications were privileged by virtue of an attorney-client relationship with Marston and that Marston, consequently, could not testify as to Furst's statements at this meeting. After a hearing on this issue the district court ruled that Furst's communications were not privileged and that Marston could testify. 23 91 Although the applicability of the privilege is a factual question, we exercise plenary review over the district court's determination of the scope of privilege. See In re Bevill, Bresler and Schulman Asset Management Corp., 805 F.2d 120, 124 (3d Cir.1986) (quoting United States v. Liebman, 742 F.2d 807, 809 (3d Cir.1984)). 92 We note initially that the fact that Marston was GB's attorney is not dispositive. It is well settled that when an attorney represents two clients the privilege applies to each of those clients as against a third party. See United Coal Cos. v. Powell Construction Co., 839 F.2d 958, 965 (3d Cir.1988). Thus, in joint consultation situations the privilege protects each client. If the October, 1986, meeting was such a joint consultation, then Furst could properly have asserted the attorney-client privilege as a bar to Marston's testimony, even though Marston had an attorney-client relationship with GB. 93 A review of the circumstances of the meeting indicates, however, that it was not a joint consultation. First, it appears that Furst was directed to attend the October, 1986, meeting to explain the allegations relating to his actions while still an employee of NC Bank. Thus, the meeting was an adversarial encounter between Furst and the GB officers. Second, Marston was not present at the start of the meeting, a fact undermining the reasonableness of Furst's asserted belief that those present at the meeting were jointly seeking Marston's legal counsel. Third, the meeting concerned matters which directly involved only Furst and not the other participants at the meeting, for its purpose was to give Furst an opportunity to explain the allegations about him to his new associates. It was not a meeting at which the participants consulted with an attorney as to how to approach a common problem. 94 Moreover, even if the meeting constituted a joint consultation such that Furst had an attorney-client relationship with Marston, that is not in itself sufficient to invoke the attorney-client privilege as a bar to Marston's testimony. Furst's statements must have been made in confidence. It is the essence of the privilege that it is limited to those communications which the client either expressly made confidential or which he could reasonably assume under the circumstances would be understood by the attorney as so intended. McCormick on Evidence Sec. 91, at 217 (E. Cleary ed. 3d ed. 1984); accord In re Grand Jury Proceedings, 727 F.2d 1352, 1355-56 (4th Cir.1984); see also In re Grand Jury Empanelled February 14, 1978, 603 F.2d 469, 474 (3d Cir.1979) (specifying that the communication be made in confidence as one of the eight elements for assertion of the privilege). 24 95 Inasmuch as Furst did not expressly state that his communications at the meeting were confidential, he may assert the attorney-client privilege only if in the circumstances of the meeting, he could have reasonably expected that Marston would understand that Furst intended that the communications be confidential. 25 However, the same facts that indicate that the meeting was not a joint consultation precludes us from concluding that Furst had a reasonable expectation in confidentiality. In addition, even had Furst believed that he, together with the officials of GB, were engaged in a joint consultation with Marston, the presence of East, who was not an official of GB, should have served to undermine any expectation that Furst might have had in the confidentiality of their communications. 26 96 While the mere presence of a third person does not necessarily destroy the application of the privilege, East was not an eavesdropper and was not acting as an attorney or agent at the meeting. Inasmuch as the party asserting the attorney-client privilege bears the burden of proving that it applies, see In re Grand Jury Empanelled February 14, 1978, 603 F.2d at 474, it is clear that Furst failed to demonstrate that his statements at the October, 1986, meeting were made with a reasonable expectation of confidentiality. 97 On the basis of these facts, we conclude that the district court correctly found that Furst did not have a reasonable expectation that his communications were confidential. Thus, Marston was properly allowed to testify. 98