subject matter test
subject-matter test. A method of determining whether an employee’s communication with a corporation’s lawyer was made at the direction of the employee’s supervisors and in the course and scope of the employee’s employment, so as to be protected under the attorney–client privilege, despite the fact that the employee is not a member of the corporation’s control group. Harper & Row Pubs., Inc. v. Decker, 423 F.2d 487 (7th Cir. 1970), aff’d per curiam by equally divided Court, 400 U.S. 348, 91 S.Ct. 479 (1971). — Also termed Decker test. Cf. CONTROL-GROUP TEST. [Cases: Witnesses 199(2). C.J.S. Witnesses § 325.]
