Learning Objectives
By the end of the session, participants will be able to do four things — each of them a step in turning a discovery request into a protocol that holds up.
01
Translate the request
- Turn a subpoena, mandate, or discovery request into matter-specific instructions
- Identify the factual and organisational information the system needs
02
Draw the legal lines
- Draft separate definitions for responsiveness, privilege, and work product
- Distinguish legal from ordinary business communications involving in-house counsel
- Evaluate when consultants and vendors fall inside a protected relationship
03
Test and escalate
- Distinguish litigation-driven investigation materials from ordinary compliance records
- Establish escalation criteria for significant documents
- Test and revise protocols using representative documents
04
Coordinate and document
- Divide review responsibilities across in-house counsel, outside counsel, IT, and providers
- Document a reasonable and defensible AI-assisted review process
Key Doctrine Covered
The cases the protocol has to answer to
Upjohn Co. v. United States, 449 U.S. 383 (1981) — rejects the control-group test; privilege turns on legal-advice purpose, not seniority. Crime-fraud exception: United States v. Zolin, 491 U.S. 554 (1989).
United States v. Kovel, 296 F.2d 918 (2d Cir. 1961) — privilege extends to a non-lawyer necessary to help counsel give legal advice. Limit: United States v. Ackert, 169 F.3d 136 (2d Cir. 1999).
Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U.S. 495 (1947); Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(3) — fact work product on substantial need, opinion work product near-absolute. Agents: United States v. Nobles, 422 U.S. 225 (1975).
What's Inside
Eighteen sections, three worked examples, and a live workflow demonstration — organised around a single running scenario, a corporate investigation at Cascade Timber.
01The problem, from the in-house seat
02The economics and the difficulty
03Supervision, not delegation
04The organising scenario: Cascade Timber
05From subpoena language to a review protocol
06What an effective review instruction contains
07Responsiveness: entities, issues, requests, exclusions
08Attorney–client privilege & the persons matrix
09Consultants, vendors, and agents
10Work product in internal investigations
11Bare forwards and mixed purpose
13Validation in practice
14The revision loop
15The defensibility record, stage by stage
16Who does what: counsel, IT, and vendors
17Demonstration: live Cascade Timber workflow
18Key takeaways
—Themis, the review model, and the cost basis