Attorney client privilege and the work product doctrine can be among the most complex and least understood topics to arise in corporate litigation. This seminar puts you on the path to becoming the office expert in answering privilege and work product questions, with a comprehensive and interactive look at law and practice led by experienced in-house litigators and their outside counsel. The seminar features faculty lectures, case study review and discussion, and template handouts you can adapt for use in your practice.

You will learn...

Invoking attorney-client privilege to protect communications is rarely a simple matter, especially in a corporate setting where "the client" is a corporate entity-for example, who represents the client, in the communication? More importantly, perhaps, who is NOT the client such that claiming attorney-client privilege protection is ineffective? Another common area of confusion (and possible challenge to claims of privilege) is the distinction between when an in-house attorney is practicing law from when she is acting in a business capacity. Using case studies, participants in the seminar learn how to analyze and apply correctly the protection of attorney-client privilege in the corporate context.

And then there's work product, possibly the most misunderstood doctrine of law. If business executives talk to each other about a pending litigation, and the company lawyer is not present, can those communications be protected by the work product doctrine? What does it mean to "anticipate litigation" when determining whether a document can be considered work product? Can purely internal investigations result in "work product" materials? These and many other complexities of the application of work product doctrine in a corporate setting are explored in this interactive seminar.

The faculty also covers the common interest doctrine. What are the criteria for finding common interest protection? Does it apply only if counsel are present? Given the organizational complexity of many businesses today, with separate legal corporate entities, the ability to talk to colleagues in other parts of one's company without waiving privilege may be trickier than it used to be.

Agenda and written materials