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Attorney-client privilege

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Conflicts Of Interest At An Organization’S Highest Authority: How The District Of Columbia’S Rules Of Professional Conduct Can Fail To Protect Private Organizations, Christopher Deubert Mar 2023

Conflicts Of Interest At An Organization’S Highest Authority: How The District Of Columbia’S Rules Of Professional Conduct Can Fail To Protect Private Organizations, Christopher Deubert

Catholic University Law Review

This Article examines how the District of Columbia’s incomplete incorporation of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct into its own Rules of Professional Conduct has created a scenario in which wrongdoing inside a private organization can flourish. In 2002, following the Enron scandal, the American Bar Association (ABA) revisited and revised its Model Rules of Professional Conduct. The ABA nevertheless took a conservative route, rejecting rules long proposed by experts which would have permitted attorneys aware of corporate crimes, fraud, and other wrongdoing to report their concerns to individuals or entities outside the organization’s reporting structure. Additional scandals unfolded contemporaneous …


Attorney–Client Privilege In Bad Faith Insurance Claims: The Cedell Presumption And A Necessary National Resolution, Klien Hilliard Jan 2020

Attorney–Client Privilege In Bad Faith Insurance Claims: The Cedell Presumption And A Necessary National Resolution, Klien Hilliard

Seattle University Law Review

Attorney–client privilege is one of the most important aspects of our legal system. It is one of the oldest privileges in American law and is codified both at the national and state level. Applying to both individual persons and corporations, this expanded privilege covers a wide breadth of clients. However, this broad privilege can sometimes become blurred in relationships between the corporation and the individuals it serves. Specifically, insurance companies and those they cover have complex relationships, as the insurer possesses a quasi-fiduciary relationship in relation to the insured. This type of relationship requires that the insurer act in good …


The Privilege Doctrines--Are They Just Another Discovery Tool Utilized By The Tobacco Industry To Conceal Damaging Information?, Christine Hatfield Aug 2018

The Privilege Doctrines--Are They Just Another Discovery Tool Utilized By The Tobacco Industry To Conceal Damaging Information?, Christine Hatfield

Pace Law Review

This Comment will analyze the tobacco companies' use of the privilege doctrines to avoid litigation over the past thirty years, specifically focusing on the last fifteen years of litigation between this industry and its accusers. Part II of this Comment will discuss the pertinent discovery rules and the manner in which they are abused. Part III will examine the development, scope and limitations of the attorney-client privilege and work product doctrines, considering with particularity the corporate context and the applicability of the crime-fraud exception to these doctrines. Part IV will review the case law of the tobacco litigation, focusing on …


The Attorney-Client Privilege As Applied To Corporate Clients, Elinore Marsh Jul 2015

The Attorney-Client Privilege As Applied To Corporate Clients, Elinore Marsh

Akron Law Review

After sixty-six years of struggle and controversy surrounding the application of the attorney-client privilege to corporate clients the United States Supreme Court has taken one step in laying many questions to rest. Upjohn Co. v. United States was accepted by the Court to resolve differences in the circuits as to how far the privilege extends horizontally and vertically within the corporate structure. This comment discusses the ramifications of extending the privilege to an entity which operates only through its agents, the history of the privilege, the effect of the Upjohn decision and the questions which remain as yet unsolved.


4th And 205: How A Rush Of Global Comments Blocked The Sec’S First Attempted Punt Of Attorney-Client Privilege Under Sarbanes-Oxley, John Paul Lucci Dec 2014

4th And 205: How A Rush Of Global Comments Blocked The Sec’S First Attempted Punt Of Attorney-Client Privilege Under Sarbanes-Oxley, John Paul Lucci

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.


Corporate America Fights Back: The Battle Over Waiver Of The Attorney-Client Privilege, Michael L. Seigel Dec 2014

Corporate America Fights Back: The Battle Over Waiver Of The Attorney-Client Privilege, Michael L. Seigel

Michael L Seigel

This Article addresses a topic that is the subject of an on-going and heated contest between the business lobby and its lawyers, on the one side, and the U.S. Department of Justice on the other. The fight is over federal prosecutors' escalating practice of requesting that corporations accused of criminal wrongdoing waive their attorney-client privilege as part of their cooperation with the government. The Department of Justice views privilege waiver as a legitimate and critical tool in its post-Enron battle against white collar crime. The business lobby views it as encroaching on corporations' fundamental right to protect confidential attorney-client communications. …


Summary Of Las Vegas Sands Corp. V. Eighth Judicial Dist. Court, 130 Nev. Adv. Op. 69, Michael Bowman Aug 2014

Summary Of Las Vegas Sands Corp. V. Eighth Judicial Dist. Court, 130 Nev. Adv. Op. 69, Michael Bowman

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court determined whether a former CEO is within a “class of persons” allowed to use the corporation’s privileged documents in litigation against the corporation.


Claim Funders And Commercial Claim Holders: A Common Interest Or A Common Problem?, Michele M. Destefano Jan 2014

Claim Funders And Commercial Claim Holders: A Common Interest Or A Common Problem?, Michele M. Destefano

Articles

Commercial claim funding, where funders invest in business disputes in exchange for a percentage of any eventual settlement or judgment, is a growing industry in the United States. Funders may request confidential information about the claim and litigation strategy both before deciding to invest (to analyze the strength of the claim) and during the course of the financial relationship (to manage the investment). Further, these funders may work and communicate with claim holders and lawyers about the claim. However, there has been little caselaw and little in-depth analysis on whether--and in what circumstances-the attorney--client privilege and work-product doctrine can be …


Pragmatic Selective Waiver: Re-Aligning Corporate Executives' Personal Interests With Those Of The Corporation Amidst Government Investigations, Erin M. Carter Jan 2009

Pragmatic Selective Waiver: Re-Aligning Corporate Executives' Personal Interests With Those Of The Corporation Amidst Government Investigations, Erin M. Carter

Vanderbilt Law Review

In the corporate setting, government investigators increasingly ask corporations to waive the attorney-client privilege as part of the "cooperation" necessary to receive incentives. In practice, however, these cooperation incentives have led to what has become known as a "culture of waiver," where waiver of the privilege in the face of investigation has become virtually essential. One way courts have sought to diminish the negative externalities of waiver is through the doctrine of selective waiver. Selective waiver allows the corporation to waive the attorney-client privilege, but only to the government agency during the course of the investigation, while still retaining the …


Evaluating The Mission: A Critical Review Of The History And Evolution Of The Sec Enforcement Program, Paul S. Atkins, Bradley J. Bondi Jan 2008

Evaluating The Mission: A Critical Review Of The History And Evolution Of The Sec Enforcement Program, Paul S. Atkins, Bradley J. Bondi

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

No abstract provided.


A Proposal For Protecting Executive Communications With Corporate Counsel After Corporate Client Has Waived Its Attorney-Client Privilege , John W. Gergacz Jan 2008

A Proposal For Protecting Executive Communications With Corporate Counsel After Corporate Client Has Waived Its Attorney-Client Privilege , John W. Gergacz

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

No abstract provided.


The Last Straw: The Department Of Justice's Privilege Waiver Policy And The Death Of Adversarial Justice In Criminal Investigations Of Corporations, Julie R. O'Sullivan Jan 2008

The Last Straw: The Department Of Justice's Privilege Waiver Policy And The Death Of Adversarial Justice In Criminal Investigations Of Corporations, Julie R. O'Sullivan

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The white-collar criminal defense bar has never been reticent to complain about U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) policies that threaten its clients or the viability of its practice. But nothing--at least in the author's twenty-plus years of involvement in white-collar issues--has consumed the bar as much as the threats posed to the corporate attorney-client privilege and work-product doctrine. While commentators have identified a variety of assaults on these protections, the bar is most vocally outraged by the DOJ policy, pursuant to which, it charges, federal prosecutors regularly insist that corporations waive these protections to secure cooperation credit, declination of criminal …


The Attorney-Client Privilege Protection Act: The Prospect Of Congressional Intervention Into The Department Of Justice's Corporate Charging Policy, Andrew Gilman Jan 2008

The Attorney-Client Privilege Protection Act: The Prospect Of Congressional Intervention Into The Department Of Justice's Corporate Charging Policy, Andrew Gilman

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Note analyzes the Privilege Protection Act, focusing on how it might change corporate white-collar prosecutions. Part I of this Note explores the mechanics of the corporate privilege, the development of the DOJ's waiver policy, and the structure of the Privilege Protection Act. Part II addresses the conflicting views on whether the Privilege Protection Act will bolster corporate attorney-client privilege, provide for the effective and efficient prosecution of white-collar crime, and promote ethical prosecutorial practices. Finally, Part III argues that the Privilege Protection Act is a misguided attempt to correct a greater systemic problem with the corporate attorney-client privilege and …


Corporate America Fights Back: The Battle Over Waiver Of The Attorney-Client Privilege, Michael L. Seigel Jan 2008

Corporate America Fights Back: The Battle Over Waiver Of The Attorney-Client Privilege, Michael L. Seigel

UF Law Faculty Publications

This Article addresses a topic that is the subject of an on-going and heated contest between the business lobby and its lawyers, on the one side, and the U.S. Department of Justice on the other. The fight is over federal prosecutors' escalating practice of requesting that corporations accused of criminal wrongdoing waive their attorney-client privilege as part of their cooperation with the government. The Department of Justice views privilege waiver as a legitimate and critical tool in its post-Enron battle against white collar crime. The business lobby views it as encroaching on corporations' fundamental right to protect confidential attorney-client communications. …


The Ethical Mine Field: Corporate Internal Investigations And Individual Assertions Of The Attorney-Client Privilege, Lawton P. Cummings Apr 2007

The Ethical Mine Field: Corporate Internal Investigations And Individual Assertions Of The Attorney-Client Privilege, Lawton P. Cummings

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.


The Story Of Upjohn Co. V. United States: One Man's Journey To Extend Lawyer-Client Confidentiality, And The Social Forces That Affected It, Paul F. Rothstein Jan 2006

The Story Of Upjohn Co. V. United States: One Man's Journey To Extend Lawyer-Client Confidentiality, And The Social Forces That Affected It, Paul F. Rothstein

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The attorney-client privilege protects information a client provides an attorney in confidence for the purpose of securing legal advice. But suppose the client is not a person but a corporation and can only speak through its agents and employees. What then are the contours of the privilege? If the corporation's attorney asks an employee for information relating to pending litigation or other legal matters, is the conversation privileged? Some courts said that no communications to a corporate attorney were privileged unless they came from members of the corporate control group, loosely those people who had authority to direct the attorney's …


Panel Discussion: Bigger Carrots And Bigger Sticks: Issues And Developments In Corporate Sentencing, Jill E. Fisch, Hon. John S. Martin, Richard C. Breeden, Timothy Coleman, Stephen M. Cutler, Celeste Koeleveld, Richard H. Walker Jan 2006

Panel Discussion: Bigger Carrots And Bigger Sticks: Issues And Developments In Corporate Sentencing, Jill E. Fisch, Hon. John S. Martin, Richard C. Breeden, Timothy Coleman, Stephen M. Cutler, Celeste Koeleveld, Richard H. Walker

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

No abstract provided.


Dual Identities And Dueling Obligations: Preserving Independence In Corporate Representation, Susanna K. Ripken Dec 2000

Dual Identities And Dueling Obligations: Preserving Independence In Corporate Representation, Susanna K. Ripken

Susanna K. Ripken

Under the Model Rules of Professional Responsibility, lawyers for corporate entities must regard the organization itself as the client. Because the corporate client can act only through its authorized constituents, including officers, directors, and employees, the lawyer for the corporation typically looks to the authorized managers of the corporation to speak on behalf of the client. When the interests of the managers and the corporations diverge, however, the lawyer must seek out the highest authority in the organization to provide the appropriate guidance. As a general matter, the board of directors acts as the highest authority within the corporation. One …


Sanctifying Secrecy: The Mythology Of The Corporate Attorney-Client Privilege, Elizabeth G. Thornburg Jan 1993

Sanctifying Secrecy: The Mythology Of The Corporate Attorney-Client Privilege, Elizabeth G. Thornburg

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

This article surveys the traditional justifications for giving corporations the benefit of attorney-client privilege. It rejects both moral and utilitarian explanations and argues that, far from being beneficial or benign, the privilege actually does great harm to the truth-seeking function of litigation and imposes tremendous transaction costs on the litigants and on the judicial system as a whole.


The Corporate Attorney-Client Privilege: A Study Of The Participants, Vincent C. Alexander Jan 1989

The Corporate Attorney-Client Privilege: A Study Of The Participants, Vincent C. Alexander

Faculty Publications

Empirical research on the practical effects of the attorney-client privilege in the corporate context has been almost nonexistent. This Article seeks to help fill the gap by synthesizing traditional doctrinal analysis with the results of a survey of individuals with first-hand information about the subject: corporate attorneys, corporate management, and federal judges and magistrates. The survey, which consisted of 182 interviews in New York City, produced a broad range of information about some of the assumptions underlying the corporate privilege, the forms and processes of corporate attorney-client communications and the adjudication of privilege claims.


Ex Parte Interviews With Enterprise Employees: A Post-Upjohn Analysis, Louis A. Stahl Sep 1987

Ex Parte Interviews With Enterprise Employees: A Post-Upjohn Analysis, Louis A. Stahl

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.


Conflicting Standards For Applying The Corporate Attorney-Client Privilege, Kay E. Stephenson May 1980

Conflicting Standards For Applying The Corporate Attorney-Client Privilege, Kay E. Stephenson

Vanderbilt Law Review

The attorney-client privilege protects confidential communications between client and attorney from forced disclosure.' Dating back to at least 1577, the privilege arose from the belief that it was a point of honor for the attorney to keep his client's confidences.'The modern rationale for the privilege, however, is the perceived need to encourage full and frank discussion between attorney and client by removing the fear of forced disclosure.' Thus, the privilege rests on the premise that the social benefits derived from uninhibited communication and from the attorney's access to all the facts outweigh the detrimental effects of concealing information during trial.' …


On Petition For A Writ Of Certiorari To The United States Court Of Appeals For The Sixth Circuit, Brief Of The Federal Bar Association As Amicus Curiae, The Upjohn Company, Et Al. V. United States Of America, Et Al., Thomas G. Lilly, Alfred F. Belcuore, Paul F. Rothstein, Ronald L. Carlson Jan 1979

On Petition For A Writ Of Certiorari To The United States Court Of Appeals For The Sixth Circuit, Brief Of The Federal Bar Association As Amicus Curiae, The Upjohn Company, Et Al. V. United States Of America, Et Al., Thomas G. Lilly, Alfred F. Belcuore, Paul F. Rothstein, Ronald L. Carlson

U.S. Supreme Court Briefs

This case presents the question of whether communications between employees of a corporation and an attorney representing that corporation are entitled to the full protections of the attorney-client privilege only when the employees are those responsible for deciding and directing the corporation's response to the attorney's legal advice.


Attorney-Client Privilege And Corporations, Richard C. Klein Jan 1963

Attorney-Client Privilege And Corporations, Richard C. Klein

Cleveland State Law Review

On August 3, 1962 a memorandum decision was handed down in an antitrust proceeding which startled practicing attorneys and text writers alike. It held specifically that the "attorney-client privilege" did not apply to the corporate client.' What had been accepted as law for over one hundred and twenty-five years was curtly cast aside by Chief Judge William J. Campbell.


Federal Civil Procedure-Discovery-Availability Of Attorney-Client Privilege To Corporations, Stephen M. Wittenberg Jan 1963

Federal Civil Procedure-Discovery-Availability Of Attorney-Client Privilege To Corporations, Stephen M. Wittenberg

Michigan Law Review

During the pre-trial stage of a civil antitrust suit, plaintiff sought inspection of certain documents in the files of the corporate defendants' outside counsel. The defendant contended that these documents were protected from discovery by the attorney-client privilege. Upon motion for inspection, held, granted. The attorney-client privilege is not available to any of the corporate parties in this action. Radiant Burners, Inc. v. American Gas Ass'n, 207 F. Supp. 771, aff'd on rehearing, 209 F. Supp. 321 (N.D. Ill. 1962).