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Privilege
Are All Government Agencies Part of One “Client” for Privilege Purposes?
Courts take differing positions on the "client's" identity in the government setting. Among other things, such differing positions might affect the waiver implications of one government agency disclosing its privileged communications to another government agency.
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Employers Beware: The Rise of AI (Regulation)
Whether companies intentionally integrate AI, or their employees merely experiment with chatbots, employers should assess their current policies, practices and training to keep pace with the law. Accordingly, this article summarizes recent AI regulations that affect employers and offers guidance for evaluating compliance.
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We’ve Come to the End of the COVID-19 Outbreak Period Road
Federal Regulators Issue New Benefit Plan Guidance
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Delaware Federal and State Courts Disagree About a Key Privilege Waiver Issue
Under some arrangements, major shareholders appoint directors to companies those shareholders partially own. Does such a company waive its privilege by disclosing its privileged documents to a designating shareholder's employees (other than its designated board members)?
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Supreme Court Fumbles Attempt to Define Privilege Standard: Part III
The last two Privilege Points (Part I and Part II) addressed the Supreme Court's abandoned attempt to address the abstract "primary purpose" versus "one significant purpose" privilege standard in the absence of specific facts about particular documents. Interestingly, the Ninth Circuit's In Grand Jury decision mentioned what it called the "because of" test in the work product arena — before noting the inherent differences between the attorney-client privilege and work product protection.
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Supreme Court Fumbles Attempt to Define Privilege Standard: Part II
Last week's Privilege Point described the Supreme Court's failure to decide between a "primary purpose" and a "one significant purpose" privilege standard. Everyone wonders why the Supreme Court dropped the case. The best explanation may be that the court realized that it should have waited for an internal corporate investigation case like KBR. In re Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc., 756 F.3d 754 (D.C. Cir. 2014).
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The Common Interest Doctrine — Courts' Disagreements and a Warning
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.
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