Privilege

Privilege

Thomas E. Spahn | McGuireWoods LLP

Internal corporate or other entity investigations frequently generate discovery motions that focus on privilege and work product creation and waiver issues. Two recent decisions offer some good news for defendants resisting discovery of investigation-related documents.

Privilege

Thomas E. Spahn | McGuireWoods LLP

Facts and events normally do not deserve work product protection. But a lawyer's careful selection of such facts or important events sometimes may reflect his or her strategic assessment or litigation planning. For example, litigants obviously must identify witnesses with pertinent knowledge. But can an adversary ask which of such witnesses a litigant's lawyer thought important enough to interview?

Privilege

Thomas E. Spahn | McGuireWoods LLP

Federal courts have eliminated nearly any chance for unsuccessful trial court litigants to immediately appeal adverse privilege or work product rulings – inexplicably rejecting the obvious "cat out of the bag" nature of such rulings. In federal court, the difficult "mandamus" route normally provides the only remedy.