Photo of Jordan B. Leader

Jordan Leader is a senior counsel in the Litigation Department. He is a member of the Sports Law Group and International Arbitration Group.

Jordan regularly represents clients in a variety of complex litigation matters, including contract, joint venture, licensing, fraud, antitrust, and other commercial disputes. He handles cases in state and federal court, and in domestic and international arbitrations.

Last Thursday, the New York Court of Appeals issued a stark reminder to transactional lawyers: no matter how much “common interest” two parties may have with respect to a transaction, the common interest doctrine may not protect their communications.

In Ambac Assurance Corp. v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., New York’s highest court held, in a 4-2 decision, that a party waives its attorney-client privilege if it shares privileged information with another party unless (i) those two parties share a common legal interest, (ii) the communication between the parties was made in furtherance of that legal interest, and (iii) the communication relates to pending or anticipated litigation.