Personal Emails Sent Using Employer Computers Are Not Covered by the Attorney-Client Privilege
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Holmes v. Petrovich Development Co., LLC, 191 Cal. App. 4th 1047 (2011) (0 other reports)
Author: Lisa Pierson Weinberger, Mom, Esq.
In Holmes v. Petrovich Development Co., LLC, +191 Cal. App. 4th 1047 (2011), the California Court of Appeal addressed whether email messages that an employee sent to her personal lawyer on her employer's computer were covered by the attorney-client privilege.
California Evidence Code Section 952 generally defines a "confidential communication between client and lawyer" as information that is shared between an individual and his or her lawyer in confidence and in a manner that the client believes would preclude a third party from obtaining the information.
In this case, the appeals court held that an employee should not use a company computer to communicate with her personal attorney because such email messages were not protected as "confidential communication between client and lawyer."
