The CPA firm of Knox & Knox has been subpoenaed to testify and produce its correspondence and working papers in connection with a lawsuit brought against Johnson, one of its clients. Regarding the attempted resort to the privileged communication rule in seeking to avoid admission of such evidence in the lawsuit, which of the following is correct?
- Federal law recognizes such a privilege if the accountant is a Certified Public Accountant.
- The privilege is available regarding the working papers since the accountant is deemed to own them.
- The privilege is as widely available as the attorney-client privilege.
- In the absence of a specific statutory provision, the law does not recognize the existence of the privileged communication rule between an accountant and his client.