In our modern economy, businesses regularly use all manner of third-party consultants for many different reasons, including cost, efficiency, and expertise. Less regularly, communications between businesses and consultants are the subject of discovery motion practice in litigation. Two recent decisions out of the Southern District of New York demonstrate why businesses that use third-party consultants … Continue Reading
French Minister for Economic Affairs Emmanuel Macron recently introduced a bill proposing the recognition of legal privilege for in-house lawyers in France, which does not currently exist. However, this recognition was rejected by the Special Commission of the French National Assembly before the bill was passed by the lower chamber - a decision consistent with the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Justice's 2010 ruling in Akzo.… Continue Reading
Since January 21, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has been holding a public consultation on the new European Clinical Trial Regulations (CTRs), which are intended to streamline the application process for clinical trials and increase the availability of information and results. However, the CTRs have met with some concerns regarding commercial and patient confidentiality. As … Continue Reading
Applying the legal concept of attorney-client privilege can be tricky when the communications in question are between a client and an outside media consultancy hired to advise on issues related to forthcoming litigation. This issue is made particularly complicated by the scarcity of existing legal precedent.… Continue Reading
This post was also written by Zachary A. Portin. Can a medical corporation be directly liable under New York law for breaching its common law fiduciary duty of confidentiality when a non-physician employee acted outside the scope of his or her employment by making an unauthorized disclosure of an individual’s confidential health information? This is … Continue Reading
