South Carolina General Assembly
117th Session, 2007-2008

Download This Bill in Microsoft Word format

A211, R250, H3605

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Rep. Harrison
Document Path: l:\council\bills\ggs\22758mm07.doc
Companion/Similar bill(s): 502

Introduced in the House on February 28, 2007
Introduced in the Senate on April 24, 2007
Last Amended on April 19, 2007
Passed by the General Assembly on April 22, 2008
Governor's Action: May 13, 2008, Signed

Summary: Attorney-client relationship

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   2/28/2007  House   Introduced and read first time HJ-29
   2/28/2007  House   Referred to Committee on Judiciary HJ-29
   4/18/2007  House   Committee report: Favorable with amendment Judiciary 
                        HJ-24
   4/19/2007  House   Amended HJ-46
   4/19/2007  House   Read second time HJ-47
   4/19/2007  House   Unanimous consent for third reading on next legislative 
                        day HJ-47
   4/20/2007  House   Read third time and sent to Senate HJ-2
   4/24/2007  Senate  Introduced and read first time SJ-5
   4/24/2007  Senate  Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-5
   4/26/2007  Senate  Referred to Subcommittee: Gregory (ch), Elliott, 
                        Anderson, Ritchie, Cleary
    4/2/2008  Senate  Committee report: Favorable with amendment Judiciary SJ-8
    4/9/2008  Senate  Committee Amendment Adopted SJ-92
    4/9/2008  Senate  Read second time SJ-92
   4/10/2008  Senate  Read third time and returned to House with amendments 
                        SJ-27
   4/22/2008  House   Concurred in Senate amendment and enrolled HJ-85
    5/8/2008          Ratified R 250
   5/13/2008          Signed By Governor
   5/19/2008          Copies available
   5/19/2008          Effective date 05/13/08
   5/20/2008          Act No. 211

View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

2/28/2007
4/18/2007
4/19/2007
4/2/2008
4/9/2008


(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

(A211, R250, H3605)

AN ACT TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 62-1-110 SO AS TO CLARIFY THAT IF AN ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP EXISTS BETWEEN A LAWYER AND A FIDUCIARY, COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN THE LAWYER AND THE FIDUCIARY ARE PRIVILEGED UNLESS WAIVED BY THE FIDUCIARY.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

Fiduciary-lawyer privilege

SECTION    1.    Article 1, Chapter 1, Title 62 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 62-1-110.    Whenever an attorney-client relationship exists between a lawyer and a fiduciary, communications between the lawyer and the fiduciary shall be subject to the attorney-client privilege unless waived by the fiduciary, even though fiduciary funds may be used to compensate the lawyer for legal services rendered to the fiduciary. The existence of a fiduciary relationship between a fiduciary and a beneficiary does not constitute or give rise to any waiver of the privilege for communications between the lawyer and the fiduciary.

South Carolina Reporter's Comments

This section was enacted and intended to: (i) expressly reject the concept of a 'fiduciary exception' to any attorney-client privilege; (ii) encourage full disclosure by the fiduciary to the lawyer to further the administration of justice; and (iii) foster confidence between a fiduciary and his lawyer that will lead to a trusting and open attorney-client dialogue. See Estate of Kofsky, 487 Pa. 473 (1979). This section also expressly rejects the holding set forth in the case of Riggs Natl. Bank v. Zimmer, 355 A.2d 709 (Del. Ch. 1976)(trustee's invocation of the attorney-client privilege does not shield document from disclosure to trust beneficiaries) as applied by the Court in Floyd v. Floyd, 365 S.C. 56, 615 S.E.2d 465 (Ct. App. 2005)."

Time effective

SECTION    2.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

Ratified the 8th day of May, 2008.

Approved the 13th day of May, 2008.

__________


This web page was last updated on Monday, October 10, 2011 at 1:35 P.M.