Also known as: attorney client communications · attorney-client communication · attorney client communication · privileged communications
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Confidential exchanges between a client and an attorney made for the purpose of obtaining or providing legal advice. The protection attaches only when the communications remain confidential and occur within the professional relationship.
River Studio's counsel collected an early draft of an article containing margin comments from an attorney analyzing publication risks. An export error made the comments visible in the produced PDF. The studio immediately demanded return of the document upon discovery and moved for a protective order.
Mohawk Industries received a discovery order requiring production of internal emails between its employees and counsel. The company argued that immediate appeal was necessary to protect the confidentiality of those exchanges. The Supreme Court held that deferring review until final judgment did not undermine the exchanges.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A plaintiff sought production of written statements and personal recollections prepared by opposing counsel during an investigation. The court refused the request because the materials reflected counsel's mental impressions formed in anticipation of litigation. No showing of necessity overcame the protection for those exchanges.
A social worker conducted confidential sessions with a hotel employee after a robbery. The employee described prior security complaints during treatment. The court compared the sessions to attorney-client communications and held that the privilege shielded the content even though some statements described underlying facts.
Federal agents seized documents containing exchanges between a defendant and counsel without a warrant. The court suppressed the materials because the seizure violated the Fourth Amendment. The ruling emphasized that the confidentiality of the exchanges must be preserved regardless of how the government obtained them.
Shareholders sought production of emails between a corporation's officers and its counsel. The plaintiffs alleged the communications furthered a scheme to conceal financial misconduct. The court required an in-camera review to determine whether the exchanges lost protection under the crime-fraud exception.
The receiving party must promptly stop using the emails, return or sequester all copies, and refrain from disclosing them until the court resolves the claim. The rule imposes these duties immediately upon notice and extends to derivative notes or strategy built from the content.
Supporting sources
No. The log must supply enough detail about dates, authors, recipients, and subject matter to allow the opposing party to assess whether each item qualifies as a protected attorney-client communication. A single undifferentiated label for hundreds of documents prevents meaningful evaluation.
Supporting sources
Waiver does not occur if the disclosure was inadvertent, the producing party took reasonable steps to prevent it, and the party promptly took reasonable steps to rectify the error. Courts examine whether the error was truly unforeseen and whether prior productions without incident excuse the absence of metadata protocols.
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…The court simply ordered production on the theory that the facts sought were material and were not privileged as constituting attorney-client communications. In our opinion, neither Rule 26 nor any other rule dealing with discovery contemplates production under such circumstances. That is not because the subject matter is privileged or…