Skillz Platform Inc. v. AviaGames Inc.
- Beth Freeman
- 5:21-cv-02436
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 1
In Skillz Platform v. AviaGames, Judge Van Keulen ordered AviaGames to submit disputed privileged documents for private court review.
AviaGames Inc. must provide the identified documents and a privilege-log index to the court; Skillz Platform Inc.’s request for in-camera review was granted to the extent reflected in the order.
What happened
Skillz Platform Inc. asked the court to review certain documents that AviaGames Inc. claimed were protected by attorney-client privilege. Skillz argued that the crime-fraud exception might apply.
The court found an adequate basis to review the documents privately. The opinion does not decide whether the documents are privileged or whether the crime-fraud exception applies.
Judge Susan Van Keulen ordered AviaGames to provide the documents by email or access link and to include an index listing each document’s identifying number and general description. The documents were due by 3 p.m. Pacific time.
The detailed version
- Skillz Platform Inc. v. AviaGames Inc. · No. 5:21-cv-02436
- Beth Freeman
- Oct. 6, 2023
Background
The parties made a joint submission asking the court to conduct an in-camera review, meaning a private review by the judge, of documents that AviaGames claimed were protected by privilege. Skillz asked for the review because it believed the crime-fraud exception to privilege might apply. That exception can remove privilege protection from communications connected to certain wrongdoing, but this order does not decide whether the exception applies.
Court’s Decision
After reviewing the parties’ submission and relevant case law, the court found an adequate basis to review the documents under United States v. Zolin, 491 U.S. 554, 572 (1989). The court ordered AviaGames to make the identified documents available for review by emailing them or providing an access link to the court’s email address no later than 3 p.m. Pacific time. AviaGames also had to provide an Excel spreadsheet indexing the documents by Bates number and including each document’s general description as listed in the privilege log.
The order required document production for the court’s review; it did not state a final ruling on privilege or on the crime-fraud exception. Judge Susan Van Keulen entered the order.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.