Below is a post from Michael Temin, senior counsel with Fox Rothschild. Michael’s post looks at a recent decision by Judge Sontchi in the Leslie Controls bankruptcy.
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A discovery dispute gave the bankruptcy court an opportunity to rule on the common interest privilege which, the court said, has completely replaced the joint defense privilege for information sharing among clients with different attorneys, citing In re Teleglobe Communications Corp., 493 F.3d 345, 364 n. 20 (3d Cir. 2007). Leslie Controls, Inc., Case No. 10-12199 (Bankr. D. Del. 9/21/10)(Sontchi, B.J.).
The question presented was whether privileged communications between the debtor and its counsel which were shared pre-petition with the ad hoc committee of asbestos plaintiffs and the proposed future claimants’ representative remained protected from discovery.