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ARTICLE · 26 APRIL 2021

The increased danger of Reply All: a warning for in-house counsel

Corrs Chambers Westgarth
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In-house counsel must be alert to the dangers of email chains - minimise the risk of waiving their employer's privilege.

AustraliaLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
Felicity Healy
Felicity Healy
Claire Morgan
Claire Morgan
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Privilege is an important legal right but it is also very easy to waive.

In an era in which regulators are frequently demanding delivery of thousands of documents from organisations, maintaining privilege over legal advice is more important than ever.

Email chains that evolve from having a legal purpose to having a non-legal (or mixed) purpose may now result in a waiver of privilege of legal advice contained in the chain.

The courts may now treat a communication to multiple recipients as separate (and multiple) communications, increasing the risk of a waiver of privilege.

In-house counsel (and those who seek their advice) need to carefully consider who to address their emails to and should consider starting a new email chain rather than forwarding lengthy chains to multiple colleagues.

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