Law360 Quotes Claudius Modesti on Gov’t Use of Filter Teams in Reviewing Evidence

For its article “'Evolution' Of Controversial Filter Teams Practice Is Underway,” Law360 quoted Akin disputes & investigations partner Claudius Modesti. The article looks at the conflict between federal prosecutors and criminal defense lawyers on the Department of Justice’s use of government “filter teams” that examine seized materials and pull out attorney-client privileged information before it gets to prosecutors.

The article discusses, among other topics, recent high-profile cases involving seizure of material from Mar-a-Lago and the law offices of Trump attorney Michael Cohen in which special masters were appointed to review evidence for privilege issues, thereby removing the filter teams from the process.

Claudius, who served as a federal prosecutor, said, “My sense is that the government is learning from some of its lessons where the courts have rejected their [privilege review] protocols, and so they're making adjustments by either asking for a special master, agreeing to a special master or coming up with protocols that have sufficient safeguards.”

Claudius noted that courts seem, generally, to be moving toward giving the party whose materials were seized the opportunity to review them before they go on to the prosecutors, calling this “an important intervention point.” He added, “Then there's an opportunity for the court to weigh in if there's a dispute about what's privileged or not, before it goes to the prosecution team.”