What is a Privilege Log?
What is a privilege log? Other #lawyers have told me it’s a list of privileged documents. No.
At least not if you expect it to be used and accepted by the courts, government agencies, etc. Most require a lot more detail.
Most of the privilege logs I create must:
* Specify if the documents are wholly or partially privileged
* If partially privileged we must redact and specify the redactions are complete
* Specify the privilege type noting that multiple may apply to one document ie) attorney-client privilege, attorney work product, joint defense/ common interest
* Identify the privilege source / the attorney(s)
* We must identify the action giving rise to each privilege type
* For attorney-client we must specify if the lawyer provided advice, if someone requested advice from them, if it was prepared at the request of an attorney, is relaying legal advice, providing info needed to render or request legal advice, transmitted for the purpose of giving or receiving legal advice, etc etc
* If it’s work product we must research and specify the related litigation and if it’s prepared in anticipation of litigation or in the course of the litigation
* Must flag common interest and joint defense privilege scenarios and what entity has the common interest or joint defense agreement
* Specify the document type
* Specify in detail (but not giving away the privileged info) the subject matter of the privileged document
Some may call that making a list; I am not one of those individuals. I hope you like this discovery info as I’m planning to do more with my writing on the subject.
