A privilege log identifies each withheld document and describes it sufficiently to permit evaluation of the privilege asserted, typically including date, author, recipients, document type, privilege claimed, and a description of the subject matter that does not itself reveal privileged content.
Categorical and metadata-based logs, negotiated in advance, are increasingly used in large matters as an alternative to document-by-document entries.
Alternative Names:
Log of Withheld Documents
Why it Matters?
Logging is expensive and error-prone, and inadequate logs invite waiver arguments. In matters with hundreds of thousands of documents, traditional document-by-document logging can cost more than the underlying review, which is why negotiating a categorical or metadata format in the ESI protocol is one of the highest-value concessions to seek early.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
What must a privilege log entry contain?
Can email threads be logged as one entry?
