Register for Defending Work-Product Status and Attorney-Client Privilege of Forensic Reports

By Kristin Bryan & Angelo Carosio on August 27, 2021

CPW’s Kristin Bryan, Ericka Johnson and Rafael Langer-Osuna have partnered with Strafford for an interactive 90 minute CLE video webinar Thursday, October 28, 2021 from 1:00pm-2:30pm EST on “Defending Work-Product Status and Attorney-Client Privilege of Forensic Reports–Equipping Commercial Litigators to Protect Incident Investigations and Related Communications From Discovery.”

You can register here. This CLE course will explore how to avoid producing through discovery an incident-response report prepared for litigation and how commercial litigators can consult with experts in preparation for litigation while safeguarding the work product and attorney-client privilege. The panel will discuss these issues in the context of data breach and cyber security litigation and recent cases rejecting work-product and privilege claims.

Commercial litigators must be aware of the latest assaults on the attorney-client privilege and work-product doctrine and how to prepare for them. As data privacy litigators are already aware, it is routine in the wake of an incident to retain outside counsel and third-party forensic experts to investigate. When civil litigation follows, as it inevitably does, courts are more frequently ordering the production of written reports and related communications over assertions of attorney-client and work product privilege .Incident-response and litigation counsel must know how to coordinate with each other to establish and protect work product designation and communication privilege from the earliest possible time. Listen as this experienced panel of cybersecurity and data privacy experts who routinely represent clients in facing these evidentiary issues in the context of data breach responses, remediations and litigations will walk guide counsel through the pitfalls to avoid and offer best strategies for preserving these privileges.

Outline

Overview of attorney-client and work product privilege.
Recent cases ordering disclosure of forensic reports and communications concerning internal investigations.
Best practices to preserve the availability of privilege, using data event and cybersecurity as the example.
Documentation with vendors Documentation with outside counsel
Deposition preparation.

The panel will review these and other pivotal questions:

What was the reasoning of courts that recently ordered production of internal reports, forensic investigations, and related communications?
What are current best practices for preventing disclosure?
Can discoverable “facts” be separated from legal advice?