Wamu WKN 893906 News !

An article on Law.com explaining the motion.

I think that JPM wants to know what we know. After all, the best question to ask is one that you already know the answer to.

Law.com article:

Privilege Takes Center Stage as WaMu Bankruptcy Heats Up
law

Zach Lowe, The American Lawyer , On Monday December 21, 2009, 3:02 am EST

Lawyers for Washington Mutual filed papers Friday in the bank's Chapter 11 case claiming Sullivan & Cromwell, on behalf of WaMu's new owners at JPMorgan Chase, has been sending out letters asking WaMu's old law firms to turn over their client files on WaMu -- files that include privileged material.

The letters, which WaMu's lawyers at Quinn, Emanuel, Urquhart, Oliver & Hedges have attached as exhibits, claim JPMorgan should have access to the privileged documents because JPMorgan and WaMu are essentially the same entity now. Those entities have "joint privilege," the letters claim.

Firms that have received the letters include Weil, Gotshal & Manges, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, Perkins Coie and others.

Quinn Emanuel disagrees with the "joint privilege" notion, and it is not thrilled about how S&C and JPMorgan have been conducting themselves, court records show. The motion Quinn filed Friday asks a judge to require JPMorgan and its lawyers to give WaMu's estate advance notice if they are going to be sending these "joint privilege" letters to law firms and requesting client files. The Quinn motion says the WaMu team has requested advance notice in the last week, but says that JPMorgan's side has "declined to provide" it. (WaMu and Quinn claim they only heard about the letters because the firms that received them contacted WaMu and its lawyers).