The Attorney-Client Privilege and Former Employees

Authors

Douglas R. Richmond

Abstract

Attorney-client relationships are infused with confidentiality, and the attorney-client privilege is critical to the protection of sensitive and important communications between clients and their lawyers. Organizational clients, like individuals, are entitled to assert the attorney-client privilege concerning communications that fall within its scope.

In the organizational context, a common problem is determining who among the entity’s employees speaks on its behalf, such that communications between the entity’s lawyers and those employees may be protected against discovery by the organization’s adversaries and other third parties. And, of course, as organizations experience the inevitable turnover in their workforces, another issue surfaces: when, if ever, does the attorney-client privilege attach to communications between the organization’s lawyers and former employees of the organization? This Article answers that question to the extent possible and further provides related recommendations for practicing lawyers.

Recommended Citation

Douglas R. Richmond, The Attorney-Client Privilege and Former Employees, 70 Cath. U. L. Rev. 39 (2021).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.edu/lawreview/vol70/iss1/7