The Sacramento Third Appellate District court has ruled that emails sent from your work account to your attorney are not subject to traditional attorney-client privilege.
Normally, communications between a client and his or her attorney is held in the strictest of confidence and is not subject to disclosure under most circumstances.
The 3-0 decision Thursday by the Sacramento Third Appellate District means that if you intend to sue your employer, don’t discuss the suit with an attorney using company e-mail. The company has a right to access it, review it and use it against you in court.
“… [T]he e-mails sent via company computer under the circumstances of this case were akin to consulting her lawyer in her employer’s conference room, in a loud voice, with the door open, so that any reasonable person would expect that their discussion of her complaints about her employer would be overheard,” the court wrote.
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