Attorney-Client Privilege: CPAs and the E-Frontier

摘要

1. Attorney-Client Privilege Extends to accountants under the Kovel rule when a CPA acts at the direction of the lawyer to provide information for the client. Inadvertent disclosure of confidential information may lead to loss of the privilege. 2. A Practitioner Who Does Litigation Consulting should document the circumstances of his or her hiring, log relevant phone calls and appointments, obtain an engagement letter from the lawyer, label the project's work product confidential, properly conduct client meetings, directly invoice the attorney (not the client), send reports directly to the lawyer and make sure engagement report materials are segregated from other work files. 3. Collaborating Cpas And Attorneys Should obtain client consent to communicate their business using cordless or cell phones and take precautions to ensure use of electronic communications tools such as cell phones and faxes doesn't cause confidentiality to be waived. 4. Scramblers And Encryption Tools can substantially reduce the likelihood of waiver of privilege due to inadvertent disclosure but can be expensive ways to foil interception. 5. A Cpa Should Be Aware that for work involving a corporation it is preferable that outside counsel rather than in-house counsel hire the CPA. If outside counsel cannot engage the accountant, in-house counsel is preferable to corporate management. The probability of a successful claim of privilege is diminished when management hires the CPA. 6. If A Client's Loss Of A Case turns on the inadvertent disclosure of an electronic communication, the attorney and/or accountant could be sued for malpractice or subject to disciplinary proceedings.