On June 5, 2017, Justice Oing of the New York County Commercial Division issued a decision in Siras Partners LLC v. Activity Kuafu Hudson Yards LLC, 2017 NY Slip Op. 31216(U), holding that a party had waived the attorney-client privilege, explaining: [The plaintiff] proffers an email dated March 24, 2016 from Dai to a third-party… Read more »
Blogs
Posts Categorized: Privilege/Work Product
In Deciding Privilege Issues, Court Applies Law of Place of Trial
On May 23, 2017, the First Department issued a decision in Matter of People of the State of New York v. PriceWaterhouseCoopers, LLP, 2017 NY Slip Op. 04071, holding that “current case law requires that when we are deciding privilege issues, we apply the law of the place where the evidence will be introduced at… Read more »
Communications With Insurance Brokers Not Privileged
On April 17, 2017, Justice Bransten of the New York County Commercial Division issued a decision in Mt. McKinley Insurance Co. v. Corning Inc., 2017 NY Slip Op. 30704(U), holding that an insured’s communications with its insurance brokers were not privileged, explaining: Corning did not produce approximately 50 confidential communications between and among it, its… Read more »
Texas Accountant-Client Privilege Does Not Cover Response to NY AG Subpoena
On October 26, 2016, Justice Ostrager of the New York County Commercial Division issued a decision in People v. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, 2016 NY Slip Op. 32130(U), holding that the Texas accountant-client privilege does not apply to a response to a subpoena from the New York Attorney General. After first holding that the statute did not… Read more »
Defendant’s RMBS Breach Analyses Not Protected Work Product
On October 12, 2016, Justice Bransten of the New York County Commercial Division issued a decision in ACE Securities Corp. v. DB Structured Products, Inc., 2016 NY Slip Op. 26337, holding that a defendant’s analysis of whether various contract provisions had been breached was not protected work product, explaining: To establish that the Breach Analyses… Read more »
Non-Party Did Not Waive Common Interest Privilege
On September 29, 2016, the First Department issued a decision in 21st Century Diamond, LLC v. Allfield Trading, LLC, 2016 NY Slip Op. 06245, holding that a non-party did not waive the common interest privilege, explaining: The motion court based its finding that the common-interest privilege had been waived on a poorly worded analogy —… Read more »
Law Firm Records Ordered Produced Under Crime-Fraud Exception
On August 11, 2016, Justice Bransten of the New York County Commercial Division issued a decision in Fragin v. First Funds Holdings LLC, 2016 NY Slip Op. 31537(U), ordering the production of privileged documents under the crime-fraud exception, explaining: The central issue on this motion is whether the documents that Moses and Singer seeks to… Read more »
Communications by Defendant’s Counsel to Defendant’s Agents Held to be Privileged
On July 5, 2016, the First Department issued a decision in BEW Parking Corp. v. Apthorp Associates LLC, 2016 NY Slip Op. 05350, holding that communications by counsel to a client’s agents were privileged. In BEW Parking Corp., the “Defendant, which had[d] no employees, established, through specific affidavits of persons with knowledge, that its counsel… Read more »
Communications Regarding Ethical Obligations Not Subject to Disclosure Under Fiduciary Exception
On June 30, 2016, the First Department issued a decision in Stock v. Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP, 2016 NY Slip Op. 05247, holding that a law firm’s communications regarding its ethical obligations were not subject to disclosure in a litigation with a former client. In Stock, lawyers for the defendant law firm “sought… Read more »
For Common Interest Privilege to Apply, Communications Must Relate to Litigation
On June 9, 2016, the Court of Appeals issued a decision in Ambac Assurance Corp. v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., 2016 NY Slip Op. 04439, holding that for the common interest privilege to apply, the communications must relate to litigation, explaining: This case concerns a related, but distinct, exception to the general rule that the… Read more »