E-mails Sent From Work Computer Considered Protected By Attorney-Client Privilege
In what is believed to be a case of first impression at the highest court of any state, the New Jersey Supreme Court has held that e-mails sent by an employee to her attorney using a company-provided computer are protected by the attorney-client privilege even though the company policy specifically and explicitly stated that such communications were not to be considered private and were subject to review. The e-mails were sent from a private e-mail account, not a work-related account, but were sent using a company computer.
The court reasoned that individuals need to feel secure that they can speak honestly and candidly with their attorney, which trumps any company policy to the contrary. Furthermore, the company's attorneys who retrieved, read and used the e-mails to defend the case against the company were deemed by the court to have violated ethics rules and could face penalties including monetary sanctions and disqualification.
Even though the New Jersey decision is not controlling authority over a lawyer representing accident and injury victims in Kentucky, like me, I always instruct my clients to use a personal, private e-mail account when communicating with me, to consider a work account unsecure for communicating with me and to avoid using a work account for doing so. A court could rule that e-mails from a work account are not protected communications under the attorney-client privilege, which could lead to serious damage to a case.
