Drafting Joint Defense Agreements

This CLE course will guide litigators on the use of joint defense agreements in civil litigation. The panel will discuss the tactical benefits of joint defense agreements and their potential pitfalls and offer best practices for crafting an agreement that protects the interests of both counsel and clients and safeguards confidential information shared among co-defendants.

Joint defense agreements can be a valuable tool for counsel representing co-defendants facing a variety of types of litigation, including intellectual property, securities, energy/environment, commercial litigation, antitrust, product liability, and mass torts. Joint defense agreements allow defendants to reduce costs and coordinate strategies, discovery, and filings.

Joint defense agreements are not without risks, however. Sharing work product and confidential information among defendants—who are frequently also competitors—may expose and lead to future litigation among the co-defendants. Counsel considering entering into joint defense agreements must carefully scrutinize the pros and cons and establish preemptive safeguards to protect their client's interests and confidential information.

Listen as our authoritative panel of experienced litigators examines the critical factors that parties contemplating a joint defense agreement must evaluate, the essential provisions of the deal itself, and strategies for meeting the legal ethics requirements related to joint defense agreements.