D.C. Circuit Court Reaffirms Attorney-Client Privilege in Internal Investigations

  As reported by the law firm Husch Blackwell, a recent D.C. Circuit court decision reaffirms that the attorney-client privilege applies with equal force to internal investigations today as it did 30 years ago. We often cover compliance stories on our website and this issue is of particular importance for corporate compliance officers.  This decision vacates the March 6, 2014 district court decision in the same case. The lower court ruled that the attorney-client privilege did not protect documents developed during an internal investigation of potential fraud. The Court reasoned that investigations were not privileged because they were conducted “pursuant to regulatory law and corporate policy rather than for the purpose of obtaining legal advice.” The Circuit Court decision recognizes the “uncertainty generated by the novelty and breadth of the District Court’s reasoning” and echoes the Supreme Court’s concern that an “uncertain privilege, or one which purports to be certain but results in widely varying applications by the courts, is little better than no privilege at all.” (Husch Blackwell) District Court’s Potential Impact on Attorney-Client Privilege Sidley Austin’s False Claims Act blog noted the significance of the Circuit Court case to corporate internal investigations. Citing a petition submitted to the Court: “It is no exaggeration to say that if the district court’s ruling stands, no defense contractor—and indeed,...
Source: Policy and Medicine - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs