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WilmerHale And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day Of Leaking Client Whistleblower Docs
WilmerHale And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day Of Leaking Client Whistleblower Docs To The WSJ
The one simple thing you can do right now to avoid ending up like the lawyers in this story.
By JOE PATRICE
at 10:28 AM
Handing a drink to the SEC. (via Kendall and Kylie/YouTube)
Did you know that Pepsico’s former general counsel Maura Smith initiated an internal investigation into allegations of financial misreporting and that the SEC is looking into her subsequent departure as a possible violation of whistleblower laws? We didn’t either until yesterday, when the Wall Street Journal told the world about it after accidentally receiving a privileged memo from WilmerHale.
So if you know a Wilmer attorney, give ’em a hug today.
The memo, discussing a subpoena Smith received, was sent to the Wall Street Journal in an email including a number of other attorneys working on the matter. Given the circumstances, it’s safe to say someone’s inline autocomplete got the better of them. For any attorneys using a mailbox with that feature… maybe turn it off. On the plus side, as an efficiency aid, it saves you a few seconds every day. On the downside, one day it’ll send privileged and potentially career-ending documents to the press. Weigh those out and do whatever you think is best. Don’t worry, you can continue this story after you go into your mail preferences.
....
Joe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.
The one simple thing you can do right now to avoid ending up like the lawyers in this story.
By JOE PATRICE
at 10:28 AM
Handing a drink to the SEC. (via Kendall and Kylie/YouTube)
Did you know that Pepsico’s former general counsel Maura Smith initiated an internal investigation into allegations of financial misreporting and that the SEC is looking into her subsequent departure as a possible violation of whistleblower laws? We didn’t either until yesterday, when the Wall Street Journal told the world about it after accidentally receiving a privileged memo from WilmerHale.
So if you know a Wilmer attorney, give ’em a hug today.
The memo, discussing a subpoena Smith received, was sent to the Wall Street Journal in an email including a number of other attorneys working on the matter. Given the circumstances, it’s safe to say someone’s inline autocomplete got the better of them. For any attorneys using a mailbox with that feature… maybe turn it off. On the plus side, as an efficiency aid, it saves you a few seconds every day. On the downside, one day it’ll send privileged and potentially career-ending documents to the press. Weigh those out and do whatever you think is best. Don’t worry, you can continue this story after you go into your mail preferences.
....
Joe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.
https://twitter.com/josephpatrice
