Florida Florida Statutes

§ 90.506 — Privilege with respect to trade secrets

FS § 90.506Ch. 90

Statute text

A person has a privilege to refuse to disclose, and to prevent other persons from disclosing, a trade secret owned by that person if the allowance of the privilege will not conceal fraud or otherwise work injustice. When the court directs disclosure, it shall take the protective measures that the interests of the holder of the privilege, the interests of the parties, and the furtherance of justice require. The privilege may be claimed by the person or the person's agent or employee.History.—s. 1, ch. 76-237; s. 1, ch. 77-wv>(e) The accountant, but only on behalf of the client. The accountant's authority to claim the privilege is presumed in the absence of contrary evidence.

(4)There is no accountant-client privilege under this section when:(a) The services of the accountant were sought or obtained to enable or aid anyone to commit or plan to commit what the client knew or should have known was a crime or fraud.

(b)A communication is relevant to an issue of breach of duty by the accountant to the accountant's client or by the client to his or her accountant.

(c)A communication is relevant to a matter of common interest between two or more clients, if the communication was made by any of them to an accountant retained or consulted in common when offered in a civil action between the clients.

Legislative history

s. 12, ch. 78-361; s. 2, ch. 78-379; s. 478, ch. 95-147.