A decade ago, this author published a brief article concerning privilege in
attachments to emails, enunciating what it called the “Part & Parcel Principle,”
explaining that there is no basis to distinguish one technical portion of an attorney-
client communication from another. But a dated strand of the law from before email
technology even existed prescribed evaluating those attachments separately from
the communication. The original article drew attention to the fallacy of that
approach, unsuited to email attachments, taking hope that the more recent cases
had broadly embraced the Principle’s logic. A decade later, however, courts
have reverted to strident dispute over how to treat privilege in email attach
ments, and tracing the cases in detail reveals the halting evolution of a more
coherent theory consistent with the Principle. In the last few years, that theory
has grown ascendant once more, culminating with a 2024 case that interro
gated the issues with great lucidity and thoroughness.

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