This is a Non Profit Project. We don't collect personal data and we don't use cookies.

Contents

An Act to amend the Federal Rules of Evidence to address the waiver of the attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine

Act Details

An Act to amend the Federal Rules of Evidence to address the waiver of the attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine was a proposal (now, a piece of legislation) introduced on 2007-12-11 in the House of Commons and Senate respectively of the 110 United States Congress by Patrick Joseph Leahy in relation with: Attorney-client privilege, Evidence (Law), Government operations and politics, Law, State courts, State laws.

An Act to amend the Federal Rules of Evidence to address the waiver of the attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine became law (1) in the United States on 2008-09-19. It was referred to the following Committee(s): (2)

Senate Judiciary (SSJU)
House Judiciary (HSJU)

Sponsor

Patrick Joseph Leahy, member of the US congress
Patrick Joseph Leahy, Democrat, Senator from Vermont

The proposal had the following cosponsors:

Lindsey O. Graham, Republican, Senator, from South Carolina
Arlen Specter, Senator, from Pennsylvania

Act Overview

Number: 2450 (3)
Official Title as Introduced: An Act to amend the Federal Rules of Evidence to address the waiver of the attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine (4)
Date First Introduced: 2007-12-11
Sponsor Name: Arlen Specter
Assignment Process: See Committe Assignments (5)
Latest Major Activity/Action: Enacted
Date Enacted (signed, in general (6), by President): 2008-09-19
Type: s (7)
Main Topic: Law
Related Bills: (8)
hr6610-110, Reason: identical, Type: bill
Summary of An Act to amend the Federal Rules of Evidence to address the waiver of the attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine: Govtrack. Authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress.
Primary Source: Congress Website

Text of the An Act to amend the Federal Rules of Evidence to address the waiver of the attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine

Amends the Federal Rules of Evidence with respect to the disclosure of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege and work product protection.

Provides that when such a disclosure is made in a federal proceeding or to a federal office or agency and waives the attorney-client privilege or work-product protection the waiver extends to an undisclosed communication or information in a federal or state proceeding only if: (1) the waiver is intentional; (2) the disclosed and undisclosed communications or information concern the same subject matter; and (3) they ought in fairness to be considered together.

States that when the disclosure is made in a federal proceeding or to a federal office or agency it does not operate as a waiver in a federal or state proceeding if: (1) the disclosure is inadvertent; (2) the holder of the privilege or protection took reasonable steps to prevent disclosure; and (3) the holder promptly took reasonable steps to rectify the error.

Declares that when the disclosure is made in a state proceeding and is not the subject of a state-court order concerning waiver it does not operate as a waiver in a federal proceeding if the disclosure: (1) would not be a waiver under this rule if it had been made in a federal proceeding; or (2) is not waived under law of the state where the disclosure occurred.

Bill Notes

[Note 1] An Act (like An Act to amend the Federal Rules of Evidence to address the waiver of the attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine) or a resolution cannot become a law in the United States until it has been approved (passed) in identical form by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, as well as signed by the President (but see (5)). If the two bodys of the Congress versions of a bill are not identical, one of the bodies might decide to take a further vote to adopt the bill (see more about the Congress process here). An Act may be pass in identical form with or without amendments and with or without conference. (see more about Enrollment).
[Note 2] Proposals are referred to committees for preliminary consideration, then debated, amended, and passed (or rejected) by the full House or Senate. To prevent endless shuttling of bills between the House and Senate, bills like An Act to amend the Federal Rules of Evidence to address the waiver of the attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine are referred to joint committees made up of members of both houses.
[Note 3] For more information regarding this legislative proposal, go to THOMAS, select “Bill Number,” search on (An Act to amend the Federal Rules of Evidence to address the waiver of the attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine)
[Note 4] An Act to amend the Federal Rules of Evidence to address the waiver of the attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine. The current official title of a bill is always present, assigned at introduction (for example, in this case, on 2007-12-11) and can be revised any time. This type of titles are sentences.
[Note 5] The Act is referred to the appropriate committee by the Speaker of any of the two Houses. Bills are placed on the calendar of the committee to which they have been assigned. See Assignment Process.
[Note 6] Regarding exceptions to President´s approval, a bill that is not signed (returned unsigned) by the President can still become law if at lest two thirds of each of the two bodys of the Congress votes to pass it, which is an infrequent case. See also Presidential Veto.
[Note 7] Legislative Proposal types can be: hr, hres, hjres, hconres, s, sres, sjres, sconres. An Act originating in the Senate is designated by the letter “S”, and a bill originating from the House of Representatives begins with “H.R.”, followed, in both cases, by its individual number which it retains throughout all its parliamentary process.
[Note 8] For information regarding related bill/s to An Act to amend the Federal Rules of Evidence to address the waiver of the attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine, go to THOMAS.

Analysis

No analysis (criticism, advocacy, etc.) about An Act to amend the Federal Rules of Evidence to address the waiver of the attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine submitted yet.

Attorney-client privilege
Evidence (Law)
Government operations and politics
Law
State courts
State laws

An Act to amend the Federal Rules of Evidence to address the waiver of the attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine

An Act to amend the Federal Rules of Evidence to address the waiver of the attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine