United States v. Doe & Corp.

This appeal concerns the district court’s order granting the government’s ex parte motion to compel production of attorney-client documents. In a memorandum disposition filed concurrently with this opinion, we affirm that we have jurisdiction to review this issue, and we affirm the district court’s conclusion that the government produced sufficient evidence to invoke the “crime-fraud” exception to attorney-client privilege. For the reasons stated herein, we vacate the order and remand for the district court to inspect the subpoenaed documents in camera to determine which specific documents contain communications in furtherance of the crime-fraud and must be produced.

I

Appellant Corporation 1 was a call center that marketed a surgical device for medical facilities. In December 2010, the director and health officer for Los Angeles County Public Health sent a letter to the FDA raising concerns that the Corporation’s advertisements (large billboards, bus placards, and direct mail) were “inadequately informfing] consumers of potential risks” of the surgical deviep. After the Corporation received' this letter from a local columnist, the company — through counsel — sent its own letter…