The common interest or joint defense privilege is a widely used tool to shield from discovery strategic communications between separately represented parties who are united against a common adversary. Although the common interest privilege has been relied upon by Massachusetts practitioners for decades, it was only formally recognized by the Supreme Judicial Court in 2007. The limits of the common interest privilege under Massachusetts law are not well defined, and assertions of the common interest privilege are frequently subject to challenge. Much of the case law from other jurisdictions concerning the scope of the privilege is seemingly at odds with how practitioners use common interest agreements in their day-to-day practice.
Join our experts as we look at Massachusetts law concerning the common interest privilege, typical challenges to the assertion of the common interest privilege, and best practices for ensuring that communications between allied parties remain privileged.
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