Alaska Employment Law

The House of Representatives has passed the Attorney-Client Privilege Protection Act of 2007.  It bars federal employees from pressuring an “organization or personal affiliated with an organization” to waive the attorney-client privilege or work product privilege.  

The bill (HR  3013) provides:

In any Federal investigation or criminal or civil enforcement matter, an agent or attorney of the United States shall not–

(1) demand, request, or condition treatment on the disclosure by an organization, or person affiliated with that organization, of any communication protected by the attorney-client privilege or any attorney work product;

(2) condition a civil or criminal charging decision relating to a organization, or person affiliated with that organization, on, or use as a factor in determining whether an organization, or person affiliated with that organization, is cooperating with the Government–

(A) any valid assertion of the attorney-client privilege or privilege for attorney work product;

(B) the provision of counsel to, or contribution to the legal defense fees or expenses of, an employee of that organization;

(C) the entry into a joint defense, information sharing, or common interest agreement with an employee of that organization if the organization determines it has a common interest in defending against the investigation or enforcement matter;

 (D) the sharing of information relevant to the investigation or enforcement matter with an employee of that organization; or

(E) a failure to terminate the employment of or otherwise sanction any employee of that organization because of the decision by that employee to exercise the constitutional rights or other legal protections of that employee in response to a Government request; or

(3) demand or request that an organization, or person affiliated with that organization, not take any action described in paragraph (2).

The Department of Justice opposes the bill, according to the WSJ.  The companion Senate bill has not moved.