What is Rule 502 attorney-client privilege and work product?
Asked by: Aidan Smitham | Last update: November 14, 2025Score: 4.8/5 (53 votes)
Following up on our recent blog in a series about internal investigations, note that Federal Rule of Evidence 502(g) states: (1) "Attorney-client privilege" means the protection that applicable law provides for confidential attorney-client communications; and (2) "
What is the rule 502 for attorney-client privilege?
Under Rule 502(d), however, the court may issue an order providing that a party's disclosure of documents protected by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection does not waive the privilege (unless there was an intent to waive the privilege).
What is the rule 502 protective order?
4 Rule 502(d) states as follows: (d) Controlling effect of a court order. – A Federal court may order that the privilege or protection is not waived by disclosure connected with the litigation pending before the court – in which event the disclosure is also not a waiver in any other Federal or State proceeding.
What is the attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine?
The work product doctrine differs dramatically from the attorney-client privilege. The privilege is old, asserts a grand purpose, is absolute but fragile. The work product doctrine is new, serves a narrow purpose, is not absolute and not fragile. Communications or documents can be protected by both protections.
What is considered a work product in insurance?
The work-product doctrine now encompasses “documents and tangible things that are prepared in anticipation of litigation or for trial by or for another party or its representative,”3 and a party's representative can be its attorney, but it also can be its insurer, employee or other agent.
Attorney/Client Privilege and Work Product Protected
What qualifies as work product?
Work product is material prepared in anticipation of litigation . Generally, work product is privileged, meaning it is exempt from discovery . However, there are exceptions. Work product is divided into two categories: ordinary and opinion.
What is the difference between work product and privilege?
While the attorney-client privilege deals with communications made for purposes of the representation, the work product doctrine deals with the attorney's mental impressions and work made to further the representation.
What are the four elements of the attorney-client privilege?
No matter how the attorney-client privilege is articulated, there are four basic elements necessary to establish its existence: (1) a communication; (2) made between privileged persons; (3) in confidence; (4) for the purpose of seeking, obtaining or providing legal assistance to the client.
Which of the following would be considered a work product?
Work product protection generally extends to “derivative” material, or anything created by or derived from an attorney's work on behalf of a client that reflects the attorney's evaluation or interpretation of the law or facts involved. Anything that's purely evidentiary is not protected.
What is the federal rule for attorney-client privilege?
In this rule: (1) “attorney‐client privilege” means the protection that applicable law provides for confidential attorney‐client communications; and (2) “work‐product privilege” means the protection that applicable law provides for tangible material (or its intangible equivalent) prepared in anticipation of litigation ...
What is the rule 502 order?
FRE 502 applies to “disclosure of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work-product protection.” An order entered by the court under FRE 502(d) can protect parties against waiver based on disclosure of privileged or protected documents.
What is Rule 502 under the Securities Act?
Question: Rule 502(c) prohibits an issuer or any person acting on the issuer's behalf from offering or selling securities by any form of general solicitation or general advertising when conducting certain offerings in reliance on Regulation D.
Where does attorney-client privilege come from?
This privilege is codified in California law via Evidence Code 954, which gives your attorney the right to refuse to divulge the contents of your conversation, gives you the right to require confidentiality from your attorney, and with few exceptions, makes any breach of that confidence inadmissible in court.
What is the federal rule for work product?
The work-product privilege (or “work-product doctrine”) protects from discovery by the opposing party "documents and tangible things that are prepared in anticipation of litigation or for trial." Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(3)(A) .
How do you beat attorney-client privilege?
Either voluntary or inadvertent disclosure to outside or non-covered recipients, professional advisors outside the privilege, and experts and consultants, can result in waiver as a matter of law.
What is an objection to attorney-client privilege?
Attorney-Client Privilege
When the objection from the other lawyer is due with privilege information, the judge will rule objection sustained, which means the question is not permitted, and the witness does not have to respond to the question.
What is an example of a work product?
Work Product means the tangible or intangible results of Grantee's Work, including, but not limited to, software, research, reports, studies, data, photographs, negatives or other finished or unfinished documents, drawings, models, surveys, maps, materials, or work product of any type, including drafts.
What is not an attorney work product?
Unlike the attorney–client privilege, which includes only communications between an attorney and the client, work product includes materials prepared by persons other than the attorney themselves: The materials may have been prepared by anybody as long as they were prepared with an eye towards the realistic possibility ...
What does it mean to say the transcript is work product of the hiring party?
California's attorney work product doctrine, codified in Section 2018.030, sets forth both an absolute and a qualified privilege: (a) A writing that reflects an attorney's impressions, conclusions, opinions, or legal research or theories is not discoverable under any circumstances.
What are the 5 C's of attorney-client privilege?
The attorney-client privilege in the United States is often defined by reference to the “5 Cs:” (1) a Communication (2) made in Confidence (3) between a Client (4) and Counsel (5) for the purpose of seeking or providing legal Counsel or advice.
Which of the following may not be protected under the attorney-client privilege?
Presence of a Third Party
This means that if a third party sits in on an in-person meeting between a client and their lawyer, is copied on an email, or is similarly involved in a communication, that communication is not protected by the attorney-client privilege.
What is an example of attorney-client work product?
An example of attorney opinion work product is an email from the attorney to their client regarding legal research and trial strategy. Opinion work product is usually given much more protection than ordinary work product and is almost never subject to discovery .
How to label an attorney work product?
Label privileged communications and attorney work product as such. In top line write “Attorney-Client Privileged Communication,” “Confidential” and/or “Attorney Work Product,” and set it off with capital letters, bold or different font color. Conversely, do not over-label.
What is the employee work product rule?
Put simply, work product is anything that an employee creates for their employer during the course of employment. The default rule, absent some other provision in an employment contract, is that your employer owns whatever work product you created for them while employed.
What types of documents are privileged?
The attorney–client privilege protects all documents that can be considered a communication, including emails, text messages, let- ters and memoranda. The privilege protects communications that are created by the client as well as those addressed to the client.