S 445 · 111th Congress 2009–2011, ended

Attorney-Client Privilege Protection Act of 2009

Fact sheet

Latest action · Feb 13, 2009 Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Progress

Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

  1. IntroducedFeb 13, 2009
  2. Passed SenateNot reached
  3. Passed HouseNot reached
  4. To the PresidentNot reached
  5. Became lawNot reached

Summary

Attorney-Client Privilege Protection Act of 2009 - Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit any U.S. agent or attorney, in any federal investigation or criminal or civil enforcement matter, including any form of administrative proceeding or adjudication, from: (1) demanding or requesting that an organization, or a current or former employee, officer, director, or agent of such organization, waive the protections of the attorney-client privilege or attorney work product doctrine; (2) offering to reward or actually rewarding an organization, or current or former employee, officer, director, or agent, for waiving such protections; or (3) threatening adverse treatment or penalizing an organization, or current or former employee, officer, director, or agent, for declining to waive those protections.

Prohibits a U.S. agent or attorney in any federal investigation or criminal or civil enforcement matter, including any form of administrative proceeding or adjudication, from considering specified conduct in: (1) making a civil or criminal charging or enforcement decision relating to an organization, or one of its current or former employees or agents; or (2) determining whether an organization, or a current or former employee, officer, director, or agent, is cooperating with the government.

Numbers among the actions a U.S. agent or attorney may not use as a charging decision condition or a cooperation-determining factor: (1) any valid assertion of the protection of the attorney-client privilege or attorney work product doctrine; (2) the provision of counsel to, or contribution to the legal defense fees or expenses of, a current or former employee, officer, director, or agent of an organization; (3) entry into, or existence of, a valid joint-defense, information-sharing, or common-interest agreement between an organization and a current or former employee or officer or director or agent, or among its current or former employees; (4) the sharing of relevant information in anticipation of or in response to an investigation or enforcement matter between an organization and a current or former employee or officer or director or agent, or among its current or former employees, unless shuch sharing is itself an offense; or (5) the failure to terminate the employment or affiliation of or otherwise sanction any employee, officer, director, or agent of the organization because of the employee's, officer's, director's, or agent's decision to exercise personal constitutional rights or other legal protections in response to a government request.

Prohibits a U.S. agent or attorney from demanding or requesting that an organization or an affiliated person not take any such action.

Cosponsors 5

Members who signed on, in the order they did. All signed on Feb 13, 2009.

SeatCosponsorSigned on
D-MOClaire McCaskillOriginalFeb 13, 2009
D-MAJohn F. KerryOriginalFeb 13, 2009
D-LAMary L. LandrieuOriginalFeb 13, 2009
R-MSThad CochranOriginalFeb 13, 2009
D-DEThomas R. CarperOriginalFeb 13, 2009

Actions 3

Everything that happened, newest first.

  1. Feb 13, 2009Introduced in Senate
  2. Feb 13, 2009Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  3. Feb 13, 2009Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S2331-2332)

Related bills 1

Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.

BillTitleRelationshipLatest action
HR 4326Attorney-Client Privilege Protection Act of 2009Related billApr 26, 2010

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement.

Text 1

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

  1. Feb 13, 2009Introduced in Senate

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Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.