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Privilege
Court Takes Expansive View of an Implied Waiver: Part II
Last week’s Privilege Point described an opinion requiring a corporate party’s witness to disclose communications with his Latham & Watkins lawyers, because he confirmed with that firm his own “commercial understanding” about a key document’s meaning.
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Court Takes Expansive View of an Implied Waiver: Part I
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 its content.
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The Worrisome Nature of “Discovery About Discovery”
Aggressive plaintiffs sometimes try to generate a “side show” by challenging corporate defendants’ discovery responses (usually their document productions).
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Do Not Forget the Consequences of Judges’ Role in Assessing Privilege Protection
In both the federal and state judicial systems, judges assess privilege and work product protection claims — sometimes coordinating with judges at other levels. But there is a lurking unspoken risk that some lawyers may overlook.
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Educate Your Clients About Two Basic Privilege Misperceptions
Attorney-client privilege protection depends on a communication’s content — which must be primarily motivated by the client’s request for legal advice.
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Courts Disagree About Privilege Log Requirements: Part II
Last week’s Privilege Point described one court’s incredible requirement that litigants identify everyone who learned of a withheld document’s content — even if they were not shown as a recipient.
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Courts Disagree About Privilege Log Requirements: Part I
All or nearly all courts require litigants to log documents withheld on privilege or work product grounds (with an exception discussed next week). But they disagree about what the log should include — with some courts taking an unrealistically expansive view.
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