Third Circuit Clarifies Privilege Rules for Jointly-Represented Corporate Entities

On August 17, 2007, the New York office authored an Alert Memo entitled, “Third Circuit Clarifies Attorney-Client Privilege Rules for Jointly-Represented Corporate Entities.”  In an important ruling late last month, In re Teleglobe Communications Corp., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit applied attorney-client privilege rules to the parent-subsidiary context, in a case of first impression under Delaware law. Teleglobe provides pointed guidance to in-house counsel both on how to maintain privilege when providing advice to both parent company and subsidiary employees and how to ensure, in an appropriate case, that the parent (and the parent alone) will be able to control the privilege and its waiver.