What's the Tea in L&E? Can You Share An Employee's Medical Info?
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
Expert witnesses can be critical to defending a tax position—but what happens when an expert must maintain confidentiality over information that is important to their analysis? Preserving this confidentiality while ensuring a...more
Introduction - In a recent judgment in Case No. 486 of 2024 (issued on 22 October 2024), the Dubai Court of Cassation (Court of Cassation) upheld the decision of the Dubai Court of Appeal (Court of Appeal) (issued on 3 April...more
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
The landscape of construction litigation has undergone a seismic shift in recent years. Gone are the days of crowded hotel conference rooms for mediations and face-to-face depositions. Today, construction litigators find...more
What’s the Tea in L&E is a video series focused on the latest trends and updates in labor and employment law. In this short video, Woods Rogers L&E attorneys Leah Stiegler and Emily Kendall Chowhan discuss when and how it is...more
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Attorney-client privilege protection depends on a communication’s content — which must be primarily motivated by the client’s request for legal advice....more
I’m not a cyber expert, but as a compliance professional with accountability for internal investigations of employee and third-party misconduct I’ve had a front row seat to the evolution of risk that has mirrored the mass...more
The new flexible work environment created in the post-pandemic years poses unique challenges for companies and individuals who work outside a traditional office. The SEC knows this and is actively enforcing the securities...more
In early 2023, the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB or “Board”) decision in McLaren Macomb, 372 NLRB 58, revoked employers’ ability to require their employees to keep the terms of severance packages confidential and to...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
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