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Privilege
Illinois Federal Court Addresses a Substantive and a Logistical Privilege Issue: Part II
Part one of this Privilege Point addressed an Illinois federal court’s holding that the attorney-client privilege protected a company executive’s relaying of legal advice to another executive, as well as the former’s email about his intent to discuss an intellectual property matter with the company lawyer. See where McGuireWoods partner, Thomas Spahn, picks up from where he left off.
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Illinois Federal Court Addresses a Substantive and a Logistical Privilege Issue: Part I
A frequent privilege issue arising in federal and state courts involves communications that do not come from or go to a lawyer. Such communications may clearly deserve privilege protection, under certain limited circumstances.
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Are “Litigation Holds” Protected by the Privilege or the Work Product Doctrine?
With pandemic-triggered litigation predicted to increase, corporations’ lawyers undoubtedly will address the possible duty to impose “litigation holds,” which direct corporate employees to preserve pertinent documents.
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Can Non-Practicing Lawyers Ever Deserve Privilege Protection?
Thomas Spahn, partner with McGuireWoods, returns with a new privilege point. The attorney-client privilege rests on a grand societal purpose — encouraging clients to safely share with their lawyers all the pertinent facts, so lawyers can guide them in a lawful direction. This is the same societal purpose underlying lawyers’ confidentiality duty.
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Courts Point to Several Factors in Addressing The “Primary Purpose” Privilege Standard
Nearly every court protects as privileged only those communications or documents whose “primary purpose” was for the clients to request legal advice or the lawyers to provide the requested legal advice. A few courts have taken a more liberal “one significant purpose” approach, but that favorable doctrine has not widely taken root.
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Accountants Implicate Subtle Privilege and Work Product Issues: Part II
Last week’s Privilege Point described a case applying the generally-accepted view that accountants assisting clients rather than the clients’ lawyers are outside privilege protection -- so copying them on privileged emails waives that fragile protection. An equally well-settled rule is just the opposite on the work product side -- disclosing protected work product to a non-adverse accountant does not waive that robust protection.
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Accountants Implicate Subtle Privilege and Work Product Issues: Part I
Accountants can help clients and clients’ lawyers – in ordinary business transactions, in explaining complex issues to lawyers who are giving legal advice, and in litigation. These differing roles at different times can trigger complicated attorney-client privilege and work product doctrine analyses.
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