Hammerman v. Northern Trust Co.

OPINION

SWANN, Judge.

¶ 1 This ease concerns the scope of a trustee’s attorney-client privilege as against a beneficiary and a successor trustee. The trial court concluded that because the trustee had sought legal advice from trust counsel using trust funds, the trustee could not withhold any of its attorney-client communications from the beneficiary or the successor trastee. We adopt the fiduciary exception to the attorney-client privilege and hold that disclosure to the beneficiary and successor trustee of otherwise privileged communications is required insofar as the trustee seeks legal…