Interesting Take on the Common-Interest Privilege
Generally, we’re encouraged to share, to cooperate, and to collaborate. But, that’s not always the case for lawyers. Attorneys may shy away from these niceties because open communication may result in the unintended disclosure of non-public information during discovery. The attorney-client privilege obviously protects those communications between professional and client. The common-interest privilege goes further. The common-interest privilege protects the confidentiality of communications passing amongst attorneys for different parties, often in the context of a joint defense effort. This privilege affords all parties the opportunity for open communication, in turn enabling counsel to strategize in anticipation of or in the course of litigation. This privilege was significantly expanded in a recent decision out of New Jersey which expressly adopted broad confidentiality protections in the common interest scenario.