Law360, New York (August 28, 2014, 1:42 PM EDT) -- After the highly controversial D.C. District Court ruling in United States ex rel. Barko v. Halliburton Co.,[1] which permitted discovery of attorney-client communications and attorney work product generated during a confidential internal investigation that had been undertaken in order to comply with regulatory disclosure obligations, the D.C. Circuit took the rare step of granting a writ of mandamus in order to vacate the ruling.[2] This outcome was a welcome reprieve for government contractors, and indeed, for any corporation that is subject to legal or financial disclosure obligations or incentives potentially affecting its decision to undertake an internal investigation....