Most attorneys are aware of their obligation to protect the attorney-client privilege, including the goal of avoiding of possible waiver resulting from the disclosure of privileged documents to third parties. For that reason, one of the biggest fears for many attorneys is the potential inadvertent disclosure of a privileged communication that jeopardizes the application of the privilege to the client’s detriment.

Such disclosures typically (but not always) occur in connection with the discovery process in litigation and are one of the primary reasons that discovery can be so time-consuming and expensive. Before producing documents, attorneys often review each page for applicable privileges, prepare privilege logs, and then potentially incur additional time resolving any disputes regarding the application of the asserted privileges.