Garrett Zelen v. United States

MEMORANDUM

Garrett J. Zelen, an attorney, appeals pro se from the district court’s order dismissing Zelen’s petition to quash an IRS summons for Zelen’s bank records. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We review for clear error the district court’s decisions regarding a summons. United States v. Richey, 632 F.3d 559, 563 (9th Cir. 2011). We review de novo the scope of asserted privileges. Id, at 563-64 (attorney-client privilege and work product doctrine); United States v. Bright, 596 F.3d 683, 690 (9th Cir. 2010) (Fifth Amendment privilege). We affirm.

The district court did not clearly err in denying Zelen’s petition to quash because the United States met its burden of establishing its prima facie case for enforcement of the IRS’s summons, and Zelen failed to rebut that showing. See United States v. Powell, 379 U.S. 48, 57-58 , 85 S.Ct. 248 , 13 L.Ed.2d 112 (1964) (setting forth requirements for establishing a prima facie case for enforcement, and explaining that the burden is on the taxpayer to show an abuse of the process).

The district court properly concluded that the attorney-client privilege did not apply because “there is no confidentiality where a third…