RPM Internal Probe Case Brings Privilege Lessons For Attys

Partner Matthew Sloan and associate Danielle Dankner look at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia's recent decision in Securities and Exchange Commission v. RPM International, Inc., in which the court took the extreme step of ordering the defendant to turn over to the SEC 19 witness interview memoranda prepared by its outside counsel. The order represented a substantial change of the scope of protection afforded by the attorney-client privilege and work-product doctrine in the context of internal investigations.