The attorney-client privilege does not permit wholesale redaction of routine information when attorney invoices are the subject of an Open Public Records Act request, a New Jersey appeals court ruled.

A trial judge erred in finding that attorney-client privilege permitted a records custodian to black out language such as “participate in phone conference with court” and “attend zoning board meeting” from legal bills requested under OPRA, the appeals court said. Expense entries such as “filing fees,” “mailing fees,” and “monthly retainer” were likewise wrongly deemed confidential under attorney-client privilege, the panel said.