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Internal Investigations Discovery Work-Product Doctrine

Foley & Lardner LLP

Sixth Circuit Affirms Attorney-Client Privilege and Work-Product Protection over Internal Investigation Materials

Foley & Lardner LLP on

Internal investigations have become a relatively normal part of doing business, but that does not mean the fruits of those investigations are discoverable even if they have a “business purpose.” The U.S. Court of Appeals for...more

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC

Reminder: When Are Communications with Corporate Counsel Privileged?

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC on

To foster open and honest communications with counsel, it is critically important that those communications are protected from disclosure by the attorney-client privilege. But, not every communication with counsel is...more

Brooks Pierce

North Carolina Business Court Ruling Could Impact the Ability of Businesses to Assert Attorney-Client Privilege Over...

Brooks Pierce on

A ruling issued by the North Carolina Business Court last month could have a significant impact on the ability of North Carolina companies and counsel to assert the attorney-client privilege over communications exchanged in...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

SEC v. RPM International — A Cautionary Case Study on the Limits of Attorney-Client Privilege and Work-Product Protection

While much of the corporate legal world has been focused on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, a little-noticed case working its way through the federal courts in Washington, D.C. threatens to whittle down the scope of...more

Hogan Lovells

Protecting attorney work product in internal investigations: A cautionary tale

Hogan Lovells on

On May 1, 2020, the D.C. Circuit denied RPM International’s petition for a writ of mandamus to vacate a district court order compelling disclosure of interview memoranda prepared by outside counsel to the Securities and...more

WilmerHale

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Denies Petition for Mandamus Seeking to Protect Privilege When Company...

WilmerHale on

A mandamus petition is an extraordinary remedy that seeks to compel a lower court to take action in extraordinary cases. The U. S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has twice granted mandamus petitions vacating...more

Orrick - Employment Law and Litigation

SDNY Offers Practical Lessons in Preserving Attorney-Client Privilege and Work Product Protection for In-House Counsel

A company’s general counsel learns that an executive assistant has made an internal report of sexual harassment against the CEO. Given the allegations and people involved, the GC personally investigates the report and...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Internal Investigation Report Prepared By Outside Counsel Entitled To Work Product Protection

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

In Lassiter v. Hidalgo Medical Services, No. 17-00850 (D. N.M. Apr. 18, 2018), a former employee sought to compel production of outside counsel’s reports and findings of an internal investigation into harassment claims. The...more

Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP

SEC Cooperation Leads to Waiver of Privilege

On December 5, 2017, a Florida federal magistrate judge ordered a law firm to turn over interview notes and memoranda from an internal investigation, finding that any applicable privilege had been waived when attorneys gave...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Protecting the Privacy of Privileged Internal Investigations

Troutman Pepper Locke on

Internal investigations by outside counsel are an essential tool for corporations to ensure they are compliant with governing regulations and statutes, particularly when they are faced with allegations of potential...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Got Privilege? When It Comes to Internal Investigations, Think Again …

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Seyfarth Synopsis: A recent decision out of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia serves as a helpful reminder on the difficulties of maintaining privilege during internal company investigations. But with a...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Sharing Legal Communications With PR Firm Raises Privilege Issues for Hospital

Troutman Pepper Locke on

A recent case in Pennsylvania reminds companies to think carefully about sharing their attorney-client communications with third parties, such as public relations firms. On March 13, a unanimous three-judge panel of the...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Personnel Investigation By Outside Attorney Protected From Disclosure In Discovery

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Seyfarth Synopsis: California Court of Appeal holds that (1) an outside attorney’s investigation can be privileged even though the attorney simply investigated facts, and (2) the employer does not waive the privilege simply...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

"The E-Discovery Digest - June 2016"

The fourth edition of The E-Discovery Digest focuses on recent decisions addressing the scope and application of the attorney-client privilege and work-product doctrine, spoliation, cost shifting and other e-discovery issues....more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

The E-Discovery Digest - October 2015

In This Issue: - Attorney-Client Privilege/Work Product Decisions: ..Decisions Protecting Against Disclosure ..Decisions Ordering Disclosure Other - Spoliation Decisions: ..Spoliation Sanctions...more

King & Spalding

Business Lit Ledger - Fall 2015

King & Spalding on

In this Fall issue of our newsletter, you will find a review of several significant legal developments. For example, our antitrust group reviews actions taken by the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice...more

Morrison & Foerster LLP

KBR And Maintaining Privilege Throughout Investigations

Last month, for the second time, the D.C. Circuit in In re Kellogg Brown & Root Inc., No. 14-5319, slip op. (D.C. Cir. Aug. 11, 2015), granted a writ of mandamus sought by KBR and vacated a series of district court orders...more

Proskauer - Corporate Defense and Disputes

Scope of Attorney-Client Privilege And Work Product Doctrine In Internal Investigations Clarified

The scope of the attorney-client privilege and work product doctrine for internal investigation reports has once again been clarified by the D.C. Circuit in a False Claims Act case against defense contractor KBR, Inc. In its...more

Proskauer - Government Contractor Compliance...

Internal Investigation Documents Are Protected from Disclosure in False Claims Act Case, D.C. Circuit Holds

Reversing a lower court decision, the D.C. Circuit recently concluded – for a second time – that certain internal audit documents are protected from disclosure by the attorney-client communication and work production...more

Carlton Fields

The Ethics of Internal Investigations, Domestic and Abroad: Protecting the Attorney Client Privilege during Internal...

Carlton Fields on

The attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine are two of the oldest and most sacrosanct privileges in the law. The attorney-client privilege protects the functioning of the attorney and client...more

Proskauer - Whistleblowing & Retaliation

Federal Court Ruling Raises Questions About Privileged Nature Of Certain Internal Investigations

On March 6, 2013, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that Kellogg Brown & Root Services, Inc. (“KBR”) must produce to a qui tam relator 89 documents relating to internal investigations...more

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