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Employee Communications and Loss of Privilege

BY Marjorie J. Peerce
September 26, 2011

When employees use their employers' electronic systems for personal communications and storage of personal documents, there are potential implications for the attorney-client and marital privileges. Some recent cases, as well as some ABA Formal Ethics Opinions released in August 2011, can provide guidance to attorneys who must counsel corporate clients that are conducting internal investigations or responding to subpoenas.

An Employee's Reasonable Expectation of Privacy

Determining whether an employee's personal electronic communications are privileged turns on whether the employee had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the communications. There is both a subjective and objective component ' the employee must have a subjective expectation of privacy that is found to be objectively reasonable. See In re Asia Global Crossing, Ltd., 322 B.R. 247, 257 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2005).

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