The U.S. Supreme Court declined to resolve an attorney-client privilege issue in a case it heard earlier this month, leaving the question of when communications that offer both legal and business advice are protected for lower courts to handle.

In a per curiam order Monday that disappointed some in the legal community, the justices said they shouldn’t have granted In Re Grand Jury and dismissed the case, in which an unnamed law firm sought to prevent disclosure of communications with one of its clients that is subject to a criminal tax investigation.