Newly Adopted Federal Rule Attempts to Address Privilege and Work Product Waiver Concerns

On Friday, September 19, 2008, President Bush signed into law S. 2450, which adds Rule 502 to the Federal Rules of Evidence. According to its drafters, the new rule is designed "to limit the consequences of inadvertent disclosure, thus relieving litigants of the burden that a single mistake during the discovery process can cost them the protection of the privilege" and further provides that "[a]n inadvertent disclosure of privileged information does not constitute a waiver as long as the holder took reasonable steps to prevent disclosure and acted promptly to retrieve the mistakenly disclosed information."

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