Whistleblowing To In-House Counsel

Complex privilege questions can arise when an employee has a whistleblowing discussion with in-house counsel. Will the privilege apply, and if so under what circumstances? Answers to these questions arise from some of the same threshold issues that define privilege, or the lack of it, in more conventional settings, but with some crucial differences and added complexities. What if the employee has his or her own counsel? What if the whistleblower is another in-house attorney? This Today’s General Counsel article considers these and other possible scenarios, and suggests ways the in-house lawyer should handle and document them.