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Attorney Client Privilege

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The interesting part of the two matters I will be addressing here is that an individual almost has to know prior to a suit being filed that litigation may occur. Discussions and written matter, all correspondence, emails and documents exchanged between parties should be prepared with a thought to potential litigation. Attorney Client Privilege and the Work Product Doctrine are two separate and distinct issues and should be treated within the legal world as separate disclosures. Attorney Client Privilege, which originated in Roman and canon law, has evolved into a recognized judicial doctrine and is necessary in order to provide clients with access to effective, well informed counsel. In Upjohn Co. v US the Supreme Court the Court …show more content…

Prior to a corporation or its employees taking action, it usually requires an informed legal advice. Legal direction may be either taken or dismissed; the point is that in order to provide an informed decision counsel and its direct reports are provided with confidential information. Counsel reviews the confidential information and provides an opinion on the issue. This opinion may or may not support the legality of a matter and the company may or may not act because of the information provided, however, the confidentiality of the initial information provided, the attorney’s thought process, as well as all reasoning associated with this process needed to be retained as confidential. Particularly when a corporation has in-house counsel, counsel may wear two hats. Not only is the counsel required to provide legal information, some with expert business sense, is asked to provide operational and directional advice. Corporate counsel usually holds more than one title; (in addition to those of General Counsel, Corporate Counsel, Associate Corporate Counsel, etc.) they may also hold the title of an Officer of the company (e.g. Executive Vice President, Senior Vice President, Vice President, Secretary, etc.) Counsel needs to be able to separate these titles to ensure that the General Counsel’s Work Product and

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