In a guest post for The D&O Diary, Bass, Berry & Sims attorneys Joe Crace and Britt Latham examined the potential pitfalls of sharing privileged information during due diligence of a prospective merger. The article, which originally published in the firm’s annual Securities & Shareholder Litigation 2017: A Look Ahead, discussed the impact of a decision by the New York Court of Appeals that narrowed the application of the common interest doctrine under New York law, causing New York to diverge from Delaware and other jurisdictions that use the doctrine to extend attorney-client privilege to certain communications between parties to an M&A transaction. The article examines the ruling, its impact and best practices in the year ahead as a result of the decision.
The full article, “Pitfalls of Sharing Privileged Information During Due Diligence,” was published by The D&O Diary on February 28, 2017, and is available online.