What becomes of attorney-client privilege when the client ceases to exist?

The question is at the heart of a standoff between Howrey bankruptcy trustee Allan Diamond and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld over whether the firm must turn over files related to work it did analyzing claims Howrey was considering pursuing against at least one of the defunct firm’s vendors.

Akin Gump—which was hired by the Howrey dissolution committee before the firm became bankrupt—claims that legal ethics prohibit it from relinquishing the disputed files to anyone other than its client in the matter. Diamond argues that he has essentially taken over for the since-dissolved dissolution committee and is therefore entitled to the files.

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