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Attorney-Client Privilege Confidential Communications Common-Interest Privilege

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Rattling the Attorney-Client Privilege Cage – A Lesson in Avoiding Waiver of Privilege Under the Common-Interest Doctrine

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

In many cases, clients tend to place their trust, and often their livelihood, in the hands of their attorney. This expectation can be easily traced back to the attorney-client privilege, one of the oldest common-law...more

Carlton Fields

Joint-Defense and Common-Interest Agreements in Government Investigations: Best Practices for In-House Counsel to Retain Privilege...

Carlton Fields on

Introduction - Your company is under investigation by the government. As part of the investigation, the government subpoenaed an employee for testimony. The employee retained a lawyer (separate from your company’s outside...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Keep it Secret, Keep it Safe: Commercial Division Protects Corporate Client Communications Under the Common-Interest Doctrine

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

The attorney-client privilege is an old and well-known evidentiary privilege. It fosters candor between attorney and client, protects confidential information from being revealed to others, and ensures that the attorney can...more

Freiberger Haber LLP

The Attorney-Client Privilege: Common Interest Doctrine and Communications By Corporate Representatives Which Convey Legal Advice

Freiberger Haber LLP on

On numerous occasions, this Blog has examined the attorney-client privilege and the attorney work product doctrine.1 Today, we take another opportunity to explore the contours of these privileges....more

McGuireWoods LLP

The Common Interest Doctrine — Courts' Disagreements and a Warning: Part II

McGuireWoods LLP on

Last week's Privilege Point described two courts taking the opposite position on whether the common interest doctrine could protect from waiver otherwise privileged communications among common interest agreement participants...more

McGuireWoods LLP

The Common Interest Doctrine — Courts' Disagreements and a Warning: Part I

McGuireWoods LLP on

The common interest doctrine can sometimes protect from the otherwise harsh privilege waiver impact normally triggered by the sharing of privileged communications among separately represented clients. Courts take widely...more

McGuireWoods LLP

Texas Courts' Contradictory Approach to the Common Interest Doctrine

McGuireWoods LLP on

The common interest doctrine sometimes allows separately represented clients to avoid the normal privilege waiver implications when sharing their privileged communications. Unfortunately for lawyers hoping for certainty,...more

McGuireWoods LLP

Minnesota Recognizes the Common Interest Doctrine

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Under the common interest doctrine, separately represented clients can avoid the normal waiver implications of sharing privileged communications by entering into a contractual arrangement. In Energy Policy Advocates v....more

Ward and Smith, P.A.

Teamwork Can Sometimes Make the Dream Work: How to Properly Maintain the Protections of Common Interest Doctrine in North Carolina

Ward and Smith, P.A. on

Parties to a lawsuit often find themselves on the "same side of the courtroom" as other entities or individuals. In these instances, where a party is one of multiple (or many) co-plaintiffs or co-defendants, it is often...more

McGuireWoods LLP

Northern District of California Court Repeats Commonly Articulated Incorrect but Harmless Statement About Common Interest Doctrine

McGuireWoods LLP on

The common interest doctrine can sometimes protect communications between separately represented clients that would otherwise trigger a waiver – if those clients share an identical (or nearly identical, in some courts) legal...more

McGuireWoods LLP

Federal Court Coins a Useful Common Interest Doctrine Phrase: "Rooting Interest"

McGuireWoods LLP on

The widely misunderstood common interest doctrine occasionally allows separately represented clients to avoid the normal disastrous waiver implications of sharing privileged communications. Among other requirements, most...more

McGuireWoods LLP

The Privilege Always Protects Communications Among Jointly Represented Corporate Affiliates, Right?

McGuireWoods LLP on

Corporate parents' in-house lawyers' joint representations of the parent and its wholly-owned subsidiaries should cinch their communications' attorney-client privilege protection. Additional grounds for such privilege...more

McGuireWoods LLP

Adversaries on Some Litigation Issues Might Share a "Common Interest" on Other Issues

McGuireWoods LLP on

The unpredictable and frequently rejected common interest doctrine can sometimes avoid what would otherwise be a waiver when separately represented litigants share privileged communications or documents. Many clients and even...more

Weintraub Tobin

District Court Finds Communications And Documents Concerning Defendant’s Post-Filing Acquisition Are Not Protected By The Common...

Weintraub Tobin on

In 10x Genomics, Inc. v. Celsee, Inc., 1-19-cv-00862 (DDE 2020-12-04, Order) (Colm F. Connolly), the District Court ordered the defendant to produce documents and give testimony about communications between defendant and its...more

Butler Snow LLP

When Sharing is Caring: The Federal “Common Interest Privilege”

Butler Snow LLP on

The attorney-client privilege protects communications for the purpose of obtaining legal advice between attorney and client. It applies not only to communications with outside counsel but also with in-house attorneys who are...more

McGuireWoods LLP

Delaware Courts Address Common Interest Doctrine Issue: Part II

McGuireWoods LLP on

Last week’s Privilege Point described a favorable Delaware state court decision finding that a post-reorganization trust and its largest stakeholder could rely on the common interest doctrine to protect their communications –...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Common Interest Doctrine and Attorney-Client Privilege Protect Distributor’s Email Communication with Defendant

In a January 14, 2020, order, the Northern District of Illinois granted in part and denied in part, a plaintiff’s motion to compel the production of documents withheld as privileged. The court found that an email between the...more

Troutman Pepper

Are You Sure Those Conversations Are Covered by the Common Interest Privilege? Check the Record

Troutman Pepper on

Imagine you are representing an individual who has been subpoenaed for testimony as part of the government’s investigation of her employer. ...more

Brooks Pierce

NC Business Court: Attorney-Client Privilege For Corporations

Brooks Pierce on

The NC Business Court delivered a full Opinion last week on attorney-client privilege in Technetics Group Daytona, Inc. v. N2 Biomedical, LLC, 2018 NCBC 115. It’s on the subject of the scope of attorney-client privilege...more

McGuireWoods LLP

Courts Continue to Diverge on the Common Interest Doctrine's Dependence on Anticipated Litigation

McGuireWoods LLP on

Most courts apply the common interest doctrine only in litigation-related circumstances, although a few courts extend the doctrine to transactional contexts. In BlackRock Balanced Capital Portfolio (Fi) v. Deutsche Bank...more

McGuireWoods LLP

Court Rejects the Common Interest Doctrine's Applicability for Yet Another Reason

McGuireWoods LLP on

The common interest doctrine can avoid the normal waiver implications of disclosing privileged communications to third parties. But some courts do not recognize the doctrine at all, and most courts impose various requirements...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

Illinois Appellate Court Recognizes Common Interest Exception to Waiver of Privilege Rule

Foley & Lardner LLP on

On December 7, 2017, an Illinois appellate court held that co-defendants in a case who agree to share information pursuant to their common interest in defeating their litigation opponent do not waive either the...more

K&L Gates LLP

Maximizing Efficiency, Minimizing Risk: Understanding the Common Interest Doctrine

K&L Gates LLP on

The common interest doctrine provides that, if two or more separately represented entities with a common legal, factual, or strategic interest exchange information with each other and their respective lawyers, a communication...more

Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig LLP

The Common Interest Doctrine: Maintaining Confidentiality

While confidentiality is usually destroyed when communications between an attorney and client take place in the presence of a third party or when work product is shared with others, those communications can remain protected...more

Ward and Smith, P.A.

2016 Guidance from the North Carolina Court of Appeals on Attorney-Client Privilege Issues

Ward and Smith, P.A. on

In civil litigation, parties frequently communicate with consultants, tax advisors, friends, family, and others concerning the subject matter of the litigation, and such communications raise issues regarding the possible...more

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