Law Firm In-house Counsel: Interface With E-discovery

• Jurisdiction: United States,Federal
• Citation: Vol. 78 No. 3 Pg. 17
• Publication year: 2009
• Pages: 17
• topic: Business of Law,Contracts,Civil Procedure

Law Firm In-House Counsel: Interface with E-Discovery No. 78 J. Kan. Bar Assn 3, 17 (2009) Kansas Bar Journal March, 2009

Thinking Ethics

Law Firm In-House Counsel: Interface with E-Discovery

By J. Nick Badgerow, Spencer, Fane, Britt & Browne LLP, Overland Park

Journals and treatises have recommended that law firms appoint one or more of their partners as "in-house counsel" for purposes of giving legal advice to lawyers and their professionals within the firm.^[1] One purpose for designating a law firm counsel is to help preserve in-house communications under the attorney-client privilege.^[2] Just like other clients, lawyers should feel free to consult with an attorney for the purpose of obtaining legal advice on decisions and actions to be taken by the lawyer. The January 2009 edition of this column addressed this issue from the standpoint of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, based on a recent ABA Ethics Opinion.

Another recent development has helped to refine this issue, this time from the standpoint of the rules of discovery. A Louisiana federal court issued an opinion which includes an in depth analysis of the in-house law firm privilege as it relates to production of documents. In In re Vioxx Products Liability Litigation,^[3] the court did not depart from generally recognized law; but the decision encapsulates in one place a number of legal principles, particularly related to the interface between in-house counsel and electronic discovery.

From this decision, several practical principles emerge. These principles should guide not only lawyers dealing with in-house law firm...