News and Events
Jim Ulwick recognized in The American Lawyer's 2021 Trailblazer Series
Kramon & Graham is pleased to announce that trial attorney James P. Ulwick has been selected for The American Lawyer's Southern Trailblazer issue. The American Lawyer developed its Trailblazer series to highlight professionals who have made a substantial impact in the legal industry.
Jim is featured in the issue for challenging the appropriateness of the U.S. Attorney's Office's review of materials confiscated from a law firm client. That challenge resulted in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit's decision to reject the use of a filter team to review materials seized from a law firm, the first appellate decision on the subject.
In 2019, federal agents executed a search warrant on a law firm and seized thousands of emails. Knowing that the emails included privileged documents, the government assigned a "filter team" to review them. The filter team was composed of federal agents and prosecutors who were "walled off" from the grand jury investigation. Jim was hired to protect the privileges. The Government argued that its protocol was standard practice across the country and had been approved by numerous district courts. The District Court denied relief, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed. The Fourth Circuit rejected the government's filter team protocol and held that the protocol violated basic principles of the attorney-client privilege. The court ruled that the potentially privileged materials the government had seized could not be reviewed by federal agents or prosecutors but instead must be reviewed in camera by a neutral arbiter -- a judge, magistrate, or court-appointed special master.
The Fourth Circuit's decision is the first federal appellate precedent to address the use of a filter team to review materials seized from a law firm. The Government had included this protocol in the U.S. Attorney Manual, and its use was standard DOJ procedure. Based on Jim's briefs and arguments, the Court of Appeals firmly rejected this protocol in its opinion in favor of review by a neutral judge or special master.
"The ruling will provide better protection for documents seized from law firms, which are repositories for privileged information, by requiring that such documents be reviewed for privilege by a judge or special master instead of by law enforcement," Jim said in the Trailblazer article.
Leader of Kramon & Graham's Class Action and Internal Investigations practice groupsand Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, Jim focuses on criminal and civil litigation. His impressive results have led to professional honors including recognition by Chambers USA, Benchmark Litigation, and The Best Lawyers in America.
Click here to see Jim's 2021 South Trailblazer profile on page 13.
