IntroductionCommon-Interest or Joint-Defense Agreements • February 22nd, 2012
Parties that share a common legal interest may find it advantageous to coordinate their efforts and share information, including attorney-client privileged communications. For example, co-plaintiffs or co-defendants in a lawsuit may want to work collaborative- ly to conduct factual investigations, perform legal research, and develop legal strategies. Parties considering a merger may want to share analyses regarding pending or future litigation. A potential purchaser of intellectu- al property may request that the seller furnish a copy of a privileged intellectual-property opinion. However, each of these scenarios presents a significant risk: the possibility that the disclosure of privileged communications will result in the waiver of the attorney-client privilege.1 Further, the waiver likely extends not only to the communications disclosed, but to all privileged communications on the same subject matter.2
