In Re Grand Jury Subpoena Issued to Gerson S. Horn. United States of America v. Gerson S. Horn

Gerson Horn, an attorney, appeals from an order holding him in contempt for refusal to comply with a subpoena duces tecum after his motion to quash the subpoena was denied. Because the subpoena issued to Horn is so sweeping that it unquestionably covers a great deal of material that is protected by the attorney-client privilege, because the subpoena contains the impermissible request that Horn provide the grand jury with a description of all documents for which the privilege is claimed and an explanation as to his reasons for claiming the privilege, and because the government has not made a prima facie showing that the crime-fraud exception to the privilege applies, we conclude that Horn was not required to submit any of the documents for in camera inspection by the district court. Accordingly, we reverse.

I

Horn is a criminal defense attorney who practices in Beverly Hills, California. The dispute before us arises out of a federal investigation of certain financial transactions involving one of Horn’s clients, Doe, as well as a number of other individuals who may or may not be Horn’s clients.

On May 15, 1990, a federal grand jury issued a subpoena duces tecum to Horn naming…