In the darkest days of World War II, England’s very survival depended on getting vital supplies and armaments across the Atlantic to home ports. The Navy knew they could not do it alone.  They needed to enlist the cooperation of the citizenry.  So, the War Ministry papered London and other port cities with posters sounding a simple but profound warning: Loose Lips Sink Ships.

In litigation, like war, loose lips can indeed sink the best efforts of counsel. Perhaps the best example of “loose lips” is the breaking story of two high-powered Washington lawyers, who were chatting in a toney Washington steakhouse about their efforts to coordinate the White House response to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s document demands in the “Russian Investigation.” The problem was that the lunchtime discussion took place in earshot of New York Times reporter Kenneth Vogel.

The next day, September 17, 2017, Vogel and his colleague Peter Baker published an account of what was overheard while the lawyers dined al fresco at the BLT Steakhouse which is situated near the White House (and as it happens the Washington Bureau of the Times).

I invite you to Google the story for the salacious details. But for my purpose here, the story confirmed the rumors swirling in the Blogsphere that there was internecine warfare within the White House as to the proper scope of disclosure, and an intimation that certain documents were being withheld from Mueller.

While most defense and coverage cases do not involve matters of national import, great care must be taken to keep close counsel. The temptation to reveal key strategy to co-counsel, to the Court, to Mediators, or frankly, to just discuss the contest with others is often hard to resist. But vigilance and the Cannon of Ethics require that all client confidences and strategy must be closely guarded and revealed only when the time has come to use what has been lawfully withheld to advantage.

For example, if an expert, medical or otherwise, uncovers a telling fact or a winning theory, you might be tempted to discuss it. But an untimely disclosure or inadvertent “loose lips” slip may result in the other side massaging the facts to counter the potential defense. As Edgar said in Shakespeare’s King Lear, “Ripeness is all.”  All of us, then, must guard against inadvertent disclosure and decide, after consultation, when the telling fact or theory is “ripe” for disclosure.

At WCM, our lips are sealed and we have multiple layers of security to keep our network safe from prying eyes and cyber thieves.

And that’s it for this This and That. If you have any tales to tell about “loose lips” sinking your case, please call or email Dennis.