I had trouble posting yesterday. You may be liable for civil or even criminal fines in the state in which you reside. Attorney/client privilege protects the clients' confidentiality, not ther lawyer's confidentiality. Clergy/pentinent must run in a similar way. Without actually reading the laws, they probably cover any recording. There may be a difference between recordings offered for evidence of what was said and your own personal notations. It seems unlikely. As far as JW internal rules, courts cannot enforce them. If you are facing a JC, they are probably going to screw you no matter what you do. As with the Conti case, privilege may fly out the window.
New York has a liberal rule. One party could consent. I recorded every business telephone call to have a record. Not for legal proof but for my own accuracy.
So the Witness rules are easily compromised. They are already going to disfellowship or sanction you, what is one more sanction. The state laws seem the problem. Do these laws apply if there is no expectation of privacy? Perhaps. Much govt material is classified and thousands or more know it.
If they were upright, they would suggest recording the conversation so an accurate record exists. This is why court and administrative proceedings are recorded by a neutral party. Recording lowers the high risk of misunderstandings. If a disgruntled Witness tells tales, one would think that the WT would want a record to refute it. Growing up in the WT, when it was much smaller, great secrecy always enveloped everything. I wonder how much is playing cloak and dagger and making this trite business seem valuable in the elder's eyes. Someone with not much power in normal life may love the excitement of the secrecy and the serious consequences he can impose. Venality is also a concern.
As with the pedophile business of calling WT Legal from pay phones, shame is present here. If God is directing you, why be so ashamed. Is not the Bible proof that God's Word is recorded for all.
The Witness processes are so different from regular religions. Anglicans and Roman Catholics priests have canonical lawyers to advocate for them in church trials. The Witnesses trials are similar to ones conducted under the auspices of the likes of Hitler, Mao, and Stalin.
