U.S. Court Upholds Privilege Claim Respecting Report Prepared Following Data Breach

Those following developments in the data breach litigation space will be interested in the recent decision, In re Experian Data Breach Litigation (In Re Experian), where the California District Court upheld a privilege claim over a forensic report prepared following a data breach.

BACKGROUND

This decision arises in the context of a class action brought against Experian Information Solutions Inc. (Experian) after it announced that one of its systems had been the subject of unauthorized access.

In the aftermath of the breach, but before litigation was commenced, Experian retained external counsel, which in turn retained the security firm to conduct an expert report and analysis of the attack (Report). The Report was provided to outside counsel who shared it with in-house counsel at Experian.