The pandemic ushered in a panoply of behavioral changes in the workplace, ranging from virtual conferences to repetitive use of now tiresome phrases such as “these uncertain times” and “the new normal.” These changes continue to evolve as organizations grapple with permanent work from home, all-office, or hybrid office solutions. In the area of corporate communications, a rising concern is whether these behavioral transformations altered lawyers’ ethical duties of confidentiality and protection measures for the corporate attorney-client privilege. The answer evokes another aphorism — the more things change, the more they stay the same.
In my Privilege Place column published in Today’s General Counsel, I discuss how the work environment has changed for in-house lawyers in a way that increases the chances of losing, or failing to secure, privilege protection, and offer some tips on how to combat this emerging problem. You may read the article as part of the entire issue at this link, or via PDF here.