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Life Sciences Quarterly (Q3 2019): SEC Enforcement and Class Actions Regarding FDA Communications
Impact of environmental, social and governance agenda on tax
This Week in FCPA-Episode 80, The Last Jedi Edition
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Compliance into the Weeds-Episode 39, Disclosure of Ransomware Attacks
Clients sometimes include me on communications merely to protect themselves from Connecticut’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), believing that anything sent to me is automatically covered by the attorney-client privilege. ...more
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
The New York Court of Appeals recently clarified and reinforced the attorney-client privilege, explaining that certain internal training materials reflecting legal analysis of statutory, regulatory, and decisional law...more
An organization that has suffered a data breach likely does not want to have to disclose potentially embarrassing or harmful information, especially in a lawsuit resulting from the breach. Simply involving an attorney in...more
This Sidley Update addresses the following recent developments and court decisions involving e-discovery issues: an order from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California requiring the Defendant to...more
I. THE ATTORNEY-CLIENT PRIVILEGE - Historically, the attorney-client privilege developed upon two assumptions: (1) good legal assistance requires full disclosure of a client’s legal problems; and (2) a client will only ...more
Yesterday, I wrote about the Securities and Exchange Commission's attempt to force the prominent law firm of Covington & Burling LLP. In some discussions about the case, some have assumed that the concern is about...more
Addressing an important issue for in-house counsel, the Supreme Court will resolve a three-way circuit split as to when “dual-purpose” attorney-client communications that contain both legal and non-legal advice are protected...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review a case to clarify the scope of attorney-client privilege in the context of dual-purpose communications. In re: Grand Jury, No. 21-1397....more
When a company discovers that a crime may have been committed by individuals within the company, or is alerted by the government of that possibility, the company will often hire an outside law firm to conduct an internal...more
In our last newsletter, we analyzed the reluctance of courts to apply privilege to the work of forensic computer consultants following data breaches. Here, we address often unavailing efforts to fit communications with...more
A recent decision from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) addresses the circumstances under which an attorney may be subject to discipline for disclosing confidential client information. In the Matter of Michael...more
A recent decision from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas should trigger alarm bells for financial institutions’ in-house counsel. The court held that the bank involved had waived any privilege...more
In a recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court case, In re: Estate of William K. McAleer, the state high court addressed the issue of whether Pennsylvania law recognizes the fiduciary exception to attorney-client privilege....more
A recent magistrate decision from the Middle District of Pennsylvania adds to the growing body of cases limiting discovery protection for forensic reports and other materials prepared in response to a data security incident....more
Another district court just ordered the defendant in a data breach class action to turn over the forensic report it believed was entirely protected from disclosure by the attorney-client privilege and work product doctrine....more
Our inaugural issue focuses on a truly transnational and important rule of law: the attorney-client privilege and related protections against disclosure. While this is a topic common to all areas of law, the tax arena at...more
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
In high-profile cases in 2001 and 2003, federal courts recognized exceptions to the third-party waiver rule for privileged communications shared with public relations (PR) consultants. Since then, courts have repeatedly been...more
Pharmavite LLC filed a statement of loss under a policy issued by Crum & Forster Specialty Insurance Co. Crum & Forster disclaimed coverage, and Pharmavite commenced an action for breach of contract and declaratory judgment....more
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has adopted a new, expanded standard for preserving the protections of the attorney work-product doctrine, codified at Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 4003.3. This decision has implications...more
Invention disclosures made by an inventor to an attorney, or a review committee including attorney(s), often contain sensitive information that a client would prefer to keep confidential. It is important for both inventors...more
The 10th edition of The E-Discovery Digest focuses on recent decisions addressing the scope and application of the attorney-client privilege and work-product doctrine, spoliation, and discovery responses....more
Most people have heard of the “attorney-client privileged communication” and may even have a fair idea of what that means. But a lack of understanding about how it works can lead to errors that can render the communication no...more
The advent of large electronic productions has propelled a proposal to adopt new language in the standard confidentiality order used in the Commercial Division. This proposal is designed to protect parties against...more