The attorney-client privilege clearly belongs to the client
alone, although the client's lawyers must assert the privilege
when they can. In contrast lawyers have at least some ownership
interest in their work product – but few courts have applied
that abstract principle to real-life situations.
In Gruss v. Zwirn, No. 09 Civ. 6441 (PGG) (MHD), 2013
U.S. Dist. LEXIS 165211 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 19, 2013), defendants hired
Gibson Dunn to conduct an internal investigation into financial
irregularities, and present its findings to the SEC. The court held
that the presentation waived any privilege and fact work product
protection for Gibson Dunn's internal investigation-related
documents. However, defendants responded to plaintiff's demand
for some of those documents by arguing that they did "'not
have the Gibson Dunn notes, and never have had access to those
notes.'" Id. at *7 (internal citation omitted).
Gibson Dunn also filed a pleading, contending that it could assert
its
