In-House Counsel’s Compass
“In-House Counsel’s Compass: Navigating Privilege, Immunity, and Risk in Texas and Beyond” is an essential guide for modern general counsel operating in an era of heightened legal exposure and increasingly aggressive litigation tactics.
Today’s in-house lawyers are no longer just advisors behind the scenes. They are strategic leaders, crisis managers, and guardians of corporate integrity—often operating under intense scrutiny from regulators, opposing counsel, and courts. In this environment, understanding how to properly preserve privilege, protect work product, and manage personal liability is not simply technical knowledge; it is critical to survival.
Drawing on decades of high-stakes litigation experience, veteran trial lawyers Trey Cox and Alan Dabdoub provide a practical roadmap for navigating the doctrines that protect attorneys and the organizations they serve. Rather than a theoretical legal treatise, “In-Counsel’s Compass” delivers clear, actionable guidance designed specifically for general counsel and the litigators who advise them.
The book focuses on six core pillars that shape legal risk in modern corporate practice:
Attorney-Client Privilege – Protecting the confidential communications that make effective legal counsel possible.
Work-Product Doctrine – Safeguarding an attorney’s strategy, preparation, and mental impressions.
Personal Liability Risks – Understanding the growing trend of lawyers themselves becoming litigation targets.
Attorney Immunity – Exploring Texas’s powerful protections for attorneys—and where those protections stop.
Cross-Border Complications – Navigating inconsistent privilege and immunity rules across jurisdictions.
Generative AI and Privilege – Courts are playing catch-up with the rapid adoption of AI, with important implications for protecting privilege.
Through practical insights, real-world perspective, and strategic guidance, “In-House Counsel’s Compass” equips lawyers with the tools they need to protect privilege, avoid costly missteps, and confidently guide their organizations through complex disputes.
For general counsel and litigation attorneys alike, this book serves as a trusted guide to managing risk and protecting the legal protections that make effective advocacy possible.
In-House Counsel’s Compass co-authors Trey Cox and Alan Dabdoub provided analysis of recent court rulings impacting how the use of A.I. within an enterprise can impact privilege in unexpected ways. Read their Law.com guest article.
About the Authors
For In-House Counsel’s Compass, co-authors Trey Cox and Alan Dabdoub bring hard-earned perspective from guiding legal departments in commercial disputes and communicating at the board.
About Trey Cox
Cox is a nationally recognized trial lawyer and one of the country’s leading advocates in complex business and commercial litigation. He is Co-Chair of Gibson Dunn’s global litigation practice and Co-Partner in Charge of the firm’s Dallas office. Over the course of his career, he has represented companies and executives in high-stakes disputes involving business torts, trade secrets, fiduciary duty claims, and other complex commercial matters in courts across the United States.
Widely respected for his strategic approach to litigation and skill in the courtroom, Cox has tried and arbitrated significant cases and is frequently called upon to handle disputes where the financial stakes and reputational risks are substantial. His practice often places him at the intersection of litigation strategy, corporate governance, and risk management—areas where questions of attorney-client privilege, work-product protection, and attorney immunity regularly shape the outcome of disputes.
About Alan Dabdoub
Dabdoub is a partner at Dallas-based Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann and a first-chair trial lawyer who represents plaintiffs and defendants in high-stakes commercial disputes. Known for meticulous preparation, creative legal strategy, and strong courtroom presence, he is frequently called upon to handle complex matters where the financial and business stakes are substantial. In addition to his trial work, Dabdoub regularly advises companies and in-house counsel on litigation risk, privilege protection, and dispute strategy.
In addition to his trial work, Dabdoub regularly advises companies and in-house counsel on litigation risk, privilege protection, and dispute strategy. His experience working with corporate legal departments in high-stakes matters provides practical insight into the legal and business challenges facing modern general counsel.
In-House Counsel’s Compass: Navigating Privilege, Immunity, and Risk in Texas and Beyond is available at the following booksellers: