What is a Parenting Coordinator and Why Do We Need One?
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
Clients and their lawyers often work with consultants. If such consultants are found to be outside privilege protection: (1) communications with them do not deserve privilege protection; (2) their participation in otherwise...more
Working with an environmental lawyer and an environmental consultant, often a hydrogeologist or an engineer, does not have to shorten your life span. Both professionals add value to a challenging environmental problem. The...more
Social media has become part of our daily lives. Information is routinely disseminated in the public sphere via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media outlets. It is therefore no surprise that we often see high...more
During discovery, plaintiff America’s Test Kitchen moved to compel production of documents withheld under a claim of attorney-client privilege. The defendants had withheld certain communications with an outside consultant to...more
It is not uncommon in this day of social media influence for an attorney to seek out the assistance of a public relations consultant to play a role in connection with a high profile lawsuit. Such media experts can help assess...more
A recent decision by the California Court of Appeal in Behunin v. Superior Court, 9 Cal. App. 5th 833 (2017), is a reminder that a party’s communications with an attorney and a third party consultant must be reasonably...more
As previously discussed in The Fast Laner, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) had implemented a new "Persuader Rule," which would significantly change the nature of the individuals and entities who are required to...more
In accordance with the U.S. Department of Labor’s recent public announcement regarding the implementation of its new “persuader activity” rule, all engagements entered into prior to July 1, 2016—including long-term or...more
Many trade associations have little direct experience with union organizing and labor relations. When it comes to lobbying in Washington, D.C., however, trade associations know a thing or two about what it takes to be a...more
The federal Office of Labor-Management Standards (“OLMS”) in the Department of Labor issued a Final Rule, on March 24, 2016, that significantly reinterprets the so-called Persuader Activities Rule. This rule represents the...more
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (“OLMS”) recently issued its long-debated “persuader” regulations which, as of July 1, 2016, will require employers and their labor relations consultants,...more
On April 13, 2016, the Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a Form LM-21 Special Enforcement Policy announcement. Effective immediately, the policy is suspending the...more
We will try to keep this straightforward and polemic free. We will try. The last time there were any significant changes to the National Labor Relations Act was in 1959, when Congress passed the Landrum-Griffin bill...more
On March 23, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued final regulations revising the “advice exemption” and requiring employers and consultants (including lawyers) to report labor relations advice and services under...more
Corporations and their lawyers frequently work with public relations consultants when facing ongoing or anticipated litigation. In the work product context, courts agree that disclosing preexisting work product to such...more
Client agents/consultants normally fall outside privilege protection, unless they help facilitate communications between the client and lawyer. Recognizing this, some lawyers seek privilege protection by hiring the...more
On March 27, 2015, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted the plaintiffs’ motion to compel disclosure of a report prepared by a Human Resources (“HR”) consultant in class action litigation under...more
Last week's Privilege Point described an outside regulatory compliance consultant's work for a company which worried about its non-compliant billing practices and about possible litigation, that consultant's later agreement...more
Last week's Privilege Point described the Southern District of New York's prediction that the Second Circuit might reject the widely-accepted "functional equivalent" doctrine. Church & Dwight Co. Inc. v. SPD Swiss Precision...more
Not all recent Southern District of New York decisions have favored privilege protection in the corporate setting. In Church & Dwight Co. v. SPD Swiss Precision Diagnostics, GmbH, No. 14-cv-585, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 175552...more
A recent decision by the Massachusetts Land Court provides helpful guidance to clients who frequently rely on independent contractors such as brokers, project managers and public relations consultants to interface with their...more
It’s simple—the attorney-client privilege protects from discovery communications between a client and his or her lawyer. It’s challenging—the privilege applies to communications between (some) corporate representatives and...more
Previously, we talked about the legal standards applied to claims of attorney-client privilege between a company's general counsel and outside consultants. Now, let's talk about practical tips for maintaining that privilege. ...more
Penn State University recently decided to waive attorney-client privilege and cooperate in the criminal prosecutions of certain former employees. Obviously, the former employees have attempted to assert privilege to exclude...more