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Privilege
SDNY Correctly Protects Preliminary Drafts of Publicly Disseminated Documents
Not surprisingly, attorney-client privilege protection evaporates once a client and her lawyer agree that a document can be disclosed to outsiders -- even before it is disclosed. But some courts have inexplicably applied this principle to preliminary drafts.
Read MoreNew Spending Package Includes Provider Relief Fund Reporting Changes and More Funding
On Dec. 27, 2020, President Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (H.R. 133), an appropriations and stimulus package that includes changes to the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund (Provider Relief Fund) to assist providers responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read MoreDiscovery
Sending Pre-Existing Historical Documents to a Lawyer Does Not Make Them Privileged, But…
It should go without saying that sending pre-existing historical documents to a lawyer does not automatically immunize them from discovery as privileged. If it did, clients could box up all of their files and send them to a lawyer ― thus avoiding the documents’ discovery.
Read MoreLitigation
Courts Disagree About the Key Work Product Doctrine’s Motivation Element
The work product doctrine requires: (1) litigation; (2) anticipation; and (3) motivation. And even though the work product doctrine rests on a single sentence in the Federal Rules, federal courts ironically take more varied approaches to the motivation element than they do toward the usually common law-based privilege protection.
Read MoreData Privacy
Federal Data Privacy Legislation: Will It Help the U.S. Remain Competitive in the Global Marketplace?
Cristin Traylor and Alice O'Donovan, with McGuireWoods, discuss the outlook for national privacy legislation in the U.S.
Read MorePrivilege
Common Interest Doctrine Participants Must Agree on the Doctrine's Applicability
The common interest doctrine can allow separately represented clients to avoid the normal privilege waiver implications of sharing privileged communications. But the doctrine is unpredictable and therefore risky.
Read MorePrivilege
Dartmouth Strikes Out on Privilege Claim for Email Threads
Courts analyzing privilege assertions for email threads often look for some indicia of that protection on the face of those emails. Thomas Spahn, partner with McGuireWoods, offers insight in his latest Privilege Point.
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