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Attorney-Client Privilege Confidential Communications

McGuireWoods LLP

Assessing Privilege Protection for Training Materials and Presentations: Part I

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Lawyers and non-lawyers frequently train their corporate colleagues. Determining any applicable attorney-client privilege or work product protections can implicate a number of variables....more

McGuireWoods LLP

Non-Lawyer Corporate Employees Can Claim Privilege Protection for Investigation-Related Communications

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Outside and in-house lawyers may of course normally claim privilege protection for their investigation-related communications, as long as they were primarily motivated by the need for legal advice. Depending on the...more

McGuireWoods LLP

Court Adopts Variation of Bizarre Privilege Principle

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Several courts have adopted a nonsensical principle that, as one court put it, “[w]hen documents are prepared for dissemination to third parties, neither the document itself, nor preliminary drafts, are entitled to immunity.”...more

Downey Brand LLP

Godoy v. Linzner and the Lawyer’s Duty to Shut Down a Bad Idea

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Under universally accepted law, across every jurisdiction, lawyers owe vital and concrete duties to their clients.  The duty of confidentiality.  The duty of loyalty.  The duty to disclose.  And, greatest of all, the duty to...more

McGuireWoods LLP

Does Disclosing an Attorney-Client Communication Into Another Privileged Relationship Waive That Privilege?

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Although lawyers understandably focus mostly on the privilege that they enjoy when communicating with their clients, other professionals (psychiatrists, clergy) also have privilege protection of one degree or another. Does...more

McGuireWoods LLP

Two Important Courts in Two Days Highlight the Shrinking Risk of Subject Matter Waivers: Part II

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Last week’s Privilege Point noted the Southern District of New York’s privilege expert’s opinion confirming the modern view that an extrajudicial disclosure of a privileged communication normally does not trigger a subject...more

McGuireWoods LLP

Two Important Courts in Two Days Highlight the Shrinking Risk of Subject Matter Waivers: Part I

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All lawyers worry that waiving privilege protection for some communications might trigger a damaging subject matter waiver requiring disclosure of related communications. Such a subject matter waiver risk normally does not...more

Mayer Brown

Legal Privilege in Cyber Incidents: Lessons for Hong Kong from Australia’s Optus Cyber Breach

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Important lessons for Hong Kong organisations managing cyber accidents may be learned from the noteworthy ruling in a recent Australia case, Singtel Optus Pty Ltd v. Robertson [2024]. For background, from 17-20 September...more

McGuireWoods LLP

Courts’ “Intensely Practical” Approach to Surveillance Videos

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In contrast to the somewhat abstract doctrine-driven attorney-client privilege, courts have described the work product doctrine as “intensely practical.” Their treatment of defendants’ surveillance videotape of personal...more

Allen Matkins

The Attorney-Client Privilege In M&A Transactions - A Decade Later

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In 2013, then Chancellor Leo Strine determined that under Section 259 of the Delaware General Corporation Law the attorney-client privilege held by the target company follows to the surviving company after a merger.   Great...more

McGuireWoods LLP

Two S.D.N.Y. Cases Decided the Same Day Provide the Same Key Privilege Guidance: Part I

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Many if not most clients and even some ill-informed lawyers think they can “make” something privileged through some logistical step — such as marking it as “privileged,” copying a lawyer, inviting a lawyer to a meeting, etc....more

McGuireWoods LLP

What Standard Applies to Courts’ Review of Special Masters’ Privilege Calls

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In some cases involving voluminous or complicated privilege issues, courts rely on special masters to make the privilege calls. Courts often call on well-respected private lawyers, or sometimes academics (which not...more

Kilpatrick

The Attorney-Client Privilege: The Corporate Communication Conundrum – Part II

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As anyone faced with discovery requests knows, one of the most important parts of producing documents is determining what documents are subject to attorney-client privilege or work product doctrine and must therefore be...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

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

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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

McGuireWoods LLP

Court Takes Expansive View of an Implied Waiver: Part I

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Unlike an intentional or unintentional express waiver involving actual disclosure of a privileged communication, a litigant can trigger an implied waiver by relying on the fact of such a privileged communication rather than...more

McGuireWoods LLP

Educate Your Clients About Two Basic Privilege Misperceptions

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Attorney-client privilege protection depends on a communication’s content — which must be primarily motivated by the client’s request for legal advice....more

Proskauer - Minding Your Business

New York’s Court of Appeals Holds Some Internal Training Materials Are Privileged

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

McGuireWoods LLP

Two Federal Court Decisions in Three Days Misapply the General Choice of Laws Rules in Diversity Cases: Part III

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The last two Privilege Points have addressed some federal courts’ inexplicable application in diversity cases of their host states’ substantive privilege law rather than their host states’ choice of law rules. Some states...more

Smith Anderson

N.C. Business Court Strengthens a Company’s Ability to Assert the Attorney-Client Privilege in Disputes with Officers and...

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With its origins in the 16th century, the attorney-client privilege is one of the oldest doctrines in our common law tradition. Even so, new issues do arise, like in the North Carolina Business Court case Hosie v. 8 Rivers...more

Warner Norcross + Judd

A Note of Caution: Data Breach Reports May be Discoverable

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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

Robins Kaplan LLP

Do We Have to Share That Information? Attorney-Client Privilege in the Multi-Entity Context

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A bedrock feature of the attorney-client relationship is the privilege protecting legal-advice communications from prying eyes. Confidential communications between a client and her lawyer are protected to a degree not found...more

McGuireWoods LLP

Two Courts Address the Two Greatest Risks to Internal Corporate Communications’ Privilege Protection: Part II

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Last week’s Privilege Point described the illogical but scary Vioxx doctrine, which some courts apply to deny privilege protection ab initio to intra-corporate communications simultaneously seeking advice both from lawyers...more

McGuireWoods LLP

Two Courts Address the Two Greatest Risks to Internal Corporate Communications’ Privilege Protection: Part I

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Lawyers representing corporations all recognize the privilege waiver risk of disclosure to outsiders. But there are two huge risks to privilege protection even for internal corporate communications. Pointing to the “primary...more

McGuireWoods LLP

What Can Corporations Safely Share With Their Auditors?

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Corporations risk waiving their fragile privilege protection by sharing protected communications with even the friendliest outsiders — such as their retained public relations consultants, etc. They must disclose some...more

Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis LLP

Appellate Division Reaffirms Well-Settled Precedent in Refusing to Assume Attorney-Client Privilege for Individual Shareholders in...

Generally speaking, attorney-client privilege protects against the disclosure of confidential communications between a client and a lawyer that are related to the provision of legal advice or assistance. A recent New Jersey...more

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