News & Analysis as of

Common-Interest Privilege

EDRM - Electronic Discovery Reference Model

June’s Notable Cases and Events in E-Discovery

[Editor’s Note: This article was first published June 18, 2024 and EDRM is grateful to Tom Paskowitz and Robert Keeling of our Trusted Partner, Sidley, for permission to republish. The opinions and positions are those of the...more

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

Epiq

Elevating Legal Workflows with AI-Driven Text Summarization

Epiq on

Is there anything that AI cannot do? That seems to be the question on the minds of many. This technology is transforming the world in more ways than people even realize. From predicting what items someone may be interested in...more

Carlton Fields

District of Illinois Directs Insurer to Supplement Record to Support Privilege Based on “Common Interest Doctrine”

Carlton Fields on

In Ansur America Insurance Co. v. Borland, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois addressed a discovery dispute involving claims brought by Ansur America Insurance Co. against the law firm Ansur...more

McGuireWoods LLP

Did S.D.N.Y. Mean to Apply Expansive Common Interest Doctrine?

McGuireWoods LLP on

Under the widely recognized common interest doctrine, separately represented clients may sometimes contractually avoid the otherwise inevitable privilege waiver when sharing privileged communications. As explained previously...more

McGuireWoods LLP

State Court Takes a Narrow View of the Common Interest Doctrine

McGuireWoods LLP on

Under the common interest doctrine, separately represented clients may sometimes contractually avoid the normal waiver impact of disclosing privileged communications to each other. But federal and state courts take widely...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

Cranfill Sumner LLP

Unveiling Privilege Challenges in Joint Corporate Defense Agreements

Cranfill Sumner LLP on

Four co-defendants meet with their joint defense counsel to discuss a pending lawsuit. The meeting ends and all participants are confident that the discussions will remain private. There is just one problem. One of the...more

McGuireWoods LLP

Some Courts Understand Work Product Waiver, and Some Don’t

McGuireWoods LLP on

Unlike the very fragile attorney-client privilege (which can be waived even by disclosure to family members), the more robust work product doctrine protection survives disclosure to friendly third parties....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

McGuireWoods LLP on

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

McGuireWoods LLP

How Does the Common Interest Doctrine Work in the Intellectual Property Context?

McGuireWoods LLP on

The common interest doctrine sometimes prevents what would be a waiver when separately represented clients disclose privileged communications to each other. But the doctrine normally requires an identical legal interest, not...more

Lathrop GPM

Minnesota Supreme Court Recognizes Common-Interest Doctrine

Lathrop GPM on

​​​​​​​On September 28, 2022, the Minnesota Supreme Court formally recognized the common-interest doctrine for privileged communications, confirming what many attorneys in Minnesota had already believed to apply in the state....more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Applies Privilege Rules in Business Negotiations Context

Morris James LLP on

Twin Willows, LLC v. Pritzkur, C.A. No. 2020-0199-PWG (Del. Ch. Feb. 28, 2022) - This decision involved a Master in Chancery applying well-settled rules on the attorney-client privilege, common interest, and work product...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

WilmerHale

Protecting Common-Interest Privilege and Work-Product Protections: Guidance from Recent Decisions

WilmerHale on

Two recent decisions from Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware address common-interest and attorney work-product protection issues that arose in the bankruptcy...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Texas Citizens Participation Act Does Not Protect Communications about Private Transactions

McDermott Will & Emery on

The Texas Court of Appeals in the 14th Circuit denied an interlocutory appeal from the trial court’s denial of a motion to dismiss under the Texas Citizens Participation Act (TCPA), holding that TCPA does not protect...more

125 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 5

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide