Attorney—client privilege

Involve legal counsel on major near misses and incidents where liability could be high to ensure the results are protected as much as possible under attorney client privileges. 

Under certain circumstances, the courts will deny attorney-client privilege and order the disclosure of investigative reports. Other protections that may apply include The Work Product Doctrine and The Self-Critical Analysis Privilege, d)... 

Get an attorney s advice at the beginning of the investigation and decide early if attorney-client privilege is going to be used. 

Two important limitations on discovery of relevant information in patent actions are the attorney-client privilege and the work product immunity doctrine. The former protects confidential communications between lawyer and client for the purpose of securing legal advice. The latter protects documents prepared by or for counsel in connection with litigation, and counsel s mental impressions. 

Some investigations are likely to be used in subsequent law suits. This means that management may decide to place the work under attorney—client privilege. This topic is discussed in Chapter 20. 

It is unlikely that an attorney will actually be on the team. However, he or she may be closely involved in the on-going investigation, particularly if attorney/client privilege has been invoked. 

Experts working with attorneys will often use the concept of attorney—client privilege. As always in this chapter, the comments provided below are general in nature specific guidance should be obtained from a qualified attorney. 

The rule emphasizes that the attorney-client privilege is not protected from the requirement to report. 

Environmental compliance audits are frequently protected under the attorney-client or attorney-client work product privileges. Management, however, cannot protect the basic factual information compiled and evaluated in the audit process. For the attorney-client privilege to apply, four conditions must be present ... 

The attorney-client privilege must not have been waived. 

The basic idea behind attomey/client privilege is that communications with a professional legal advisor can be held in confidence (similar types of privilege can exist between a husband and wife or a religious counselor and a parishioner). Privilege protects communications, not facts. For example, if someone is asked if the valve was open immediately prior to an incident he or she cannot respond 1 discussed that with my attorney, and hence the information is privileged. However, the witness can claim privilege if asked What did you tell your attorney about the status of the valve ... 

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