Florida Senate - 2011                                     SB 708
       
       
       
       By Senator Thrasher
       
       
       
       
       8-00870-11                                             2011708__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the lawyer-client privilege;
    3         creating s. 90.5021, F.S.; providing that a client
    4         acts as a fiduciary when serving as a personal
    5         representative, a trustee, an administrator ad litem,
    6         a curator, a guardian or guardian ad litem, a
    7         conservator, or an attorney in fact; providing that a
    8         communication between a lawyer and a client acting as
    9         a fiduciary is privileged and protected from
   10         disclosure to the same extent as if the client were
   11         not acting as a fiduciary; providing that the act does
   12         not affect the crime or fraud exception to the lawyer
   13         client privilege; providing an effective date.
   14  
   15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   16  
   17         Section 1. Section 90.5021, Florida Statutes, is created to
   18  read:
   19         90.5021 Fiduciary lawyer-client privilege.—
   20         (1) For the purpose of this section, a client acts as a
   21  fiduciary when serving as a personal representative or a trustee
   22  as defined in ss. 731.201 and 736.0103, an administrator ad
   23  litem as described in s. 733.308, a curator as described in s.
   24  733.501, a guardian or guardian ad litem as defined in s.
   25  744.102, a conservator as defined in s. 710.102, or an attorney
   26  in fact as described in chapter 709.
   27         (2) A communication between a lawyer and a client acting as
   28  a fiduciary is privileged and protected from disclosure under s.
   29  90.502 to the same extent as if the client were not acting as a
   30  fiduciary. When applying s. 90.502 to a communication under this
   31  section, only the person or entity acting as a fiduciary is
   32  considered a client of the lawyer.
   33         (3) This section does not affect the exception to the
   34  lawyer-client privilege for crime or fraud as set forth in s.
   35  90.502(4).
   36         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.