Google denies it included lawyers on emails to dodge regulator scrutiny

On Monday, the US Justice Department said Google employees unnecessarily copied company lawyers on emails, especially when discussing competition issues, to shield documents from discovery in litigation and government investigations. — AFP

Alphabet Inc’s Google is pushing back on US Justice Department claims that it improperly used attorney-client privilege to conceal documents in the government’s monopoly lawsuit against the company.

“None of the emails that Plaintiffs attach to their motion evidences a bad-faith scheme to hide documents,” Google said in a court filing Thursday. “Most involve Google’s contractual negotiations with business partners, a subject on which employees would appropriately need and desire legal advice from in-house counsel.”