Last Friday, The Sedona Conference^® (TSC) announced the post public-comment version of its Commentary on Privilege Logs.

The Commentary on Privilege Logs, available here for free download and created by the TSC Working Group 1 on Electronic Document Retention and Production (WG1), offers tools and strategies for both responding and requesting parties to mitigate the considerable burdens and competing interests that can be associated with privilege logs.

Its primary conclusions include addressing format, timing, and anticipated issues early in the case to help reduce costly discovery disputes later; excluding certain categories of documents from the logging process; considering whether alternative formats to a “traditional” privilege log might be appropriate to the specific needs of the case; affirming that the burden is on the responding party to support its privilege claims; and recognizing that the concept of proportionality is integral to the privilege logging process.

The Commentary’s appendices include examples of various privilege log formats along with sample documents that appear on the logs. The exemplar documents are useful tools for helping to understand terminology and illustrate different types of privilege logs, as well as provide a visual representation of the strengths and weaknesses of each type of privilege log.

The 123-page(!) Commentary discusses everything from applicable rules to burdens and challenges with privilege logging to methodologies to mitigate burdens to resolving privilege log disputes. Plus 34 pages of appendices!

Privilege log issues are one of the most common areas of disputes in cases I cover, with cases here, here, here and here – just in the past few months! We will cover one of these cases tomorrow!

So, what do you think? Are you excited about the Commentary on Privilege Logs from The Sedona Conference? I am because it gave me a quick topic to write about on a day where we lost power at our house! 😉 Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

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