A US District Judge holds that an antitrust compliance policy can fall outside of attorney-client privilege (Domestic Drywall)

Are Antitrust Compliance Programs Protected by Attorney-Client Privilege?* We’ve previously written about the components of effective antitrust compliance programs and the potential benefits corporations may achieve by adopting them. (Read some of our posts here and here.) In drafting compliance programs, however, corporations should be aware that the attorney-client privilege may not protect a compliance policy from disclosure in litigation. This fall, in the In re Domestic Drywall Antitrust Litigation (MDL No. 2437), Judge Baylson (E.D. Pa.) ordered CertainTeed Gypsum, Inc., a defendant in an action alleging a conspiracy to fix prices of drywall in the U.S., to produce a copy of its antitrust compliance policy. CertainTeed argued