D.C. Circuit Protects Attorney-Client Privilege In Internal Corporate Investigations

The appellate court clarifies that internal corporate investigations are subject to the attorney-client privilege where one of the significant purposes of the investigation is to secure legal advice for the company.

On June 27, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that the attorney-client privilege attaches to internal corporate investigations where one of the significant purposes of the investigation is obtaining legal advice for the company.¹ In granting a petition for a writ of mandamus filed by Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc. (KBR), which challenged a lower court ruling compelling production of investigation records in a qui tam action, the D.C. Circuit made clear that reports of voluntary internal investigations do not lose privilege protection just because the investigation was undertaken pursuant to regulatory or corporate obligations. Rather, if a significant purpose of the investigation was to inform legal advice for