New York's Highest Court Declines To Expand The Common-Interest Privilege

Declining to follow the lead of numerous U.S. federal courts and other states, including Delaware, the New York Court of Appeals has held that privileged attorney-client communications shared between or among separate parties with a common legal interest remain privileged only when such communications relate to pending or reasonably anticipated litigation.¹ The decision, by a 4-2 majority, reverses the ruling of the lower appeals court for cases originating in Manhattan, which had reasoned that businesses often have important, common legal interests to protect in the absence of litigation.

What You Need To Know

• New York's highest court has declined to expand the common-interest doctrine beyond the litigation context, such as to M&A transactions.