A dispute among brothers who are in the precious-metals business together has called on a federal judge to sort out where the privilege with their three lawyers falls.

“The factual record resembles, not physically but conceptually, a large house where Kumar and Suresh both live and chatter with the three lawyers, and the others mentioned above, on the stairs and in the hallways, about corporate ownership and control, with smatterings of legal advice occurring from time to time,” U.S. District Senior Judge Michael Baylson of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said, referring to two of the brothers, Ashok Kumar Khosla and Suresh Khosla. “This scenario does not preserve the attorney-client privilege, and plaintiffs cite no case supporting their arguments.”

Baylson granted the defendant's motion to compel deposition testimony from the three lawyers.