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

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.