Press Release

Bradley attorney Todd Presnell was quoted in Law360 on best practices for reinforcing client relationships and confidentiality during the coronavirus pandemic. With lawyers across the world working from home and with unfamiliar tools, it’s more important than ever for attorneys to be conscious of their good privilege and confidentiality habits.

With a huge swath of the legal community suddenly working remotely, "we're about to see a huge new proliferation of written and electronic communications, more conference calls, and a lot less personal check-ins," said Presnell.

"We're doing things in new ways and in new environments, and that could lead to some undisciplined conduct and a greater risk of failures in this area," he said.

"In the remote work world right now, it's natural that some people will start copying in people on things they might not need to have," Presnell said. "And when we invite too many people onto conference calls or to our Zoom or WebX meetings, and with all that copying, you could see privilege waivers happening in some of these instances.”

"It's unlikely that a judge a month or a year from now is going to say that someone lost the privilege in these circumstances just because the lawyer's spouse was in the room and overheard something," Presnell said. "That said, it's not unlike having a private conversation at the water cooler at the office, so isolate yourself as much as possible and just do what you can."

The original article, “Good Privilege and Confidentiality Habits for Remote Attys,” first appeared in Law360 on March 26, 2020.