![]() , a communication made in the course of an attorney-client relationship. The party claiming the privilege has the burden of establishing preliminary facts necessary to support its exercise, i.e. ) Such communications include legal opinions formed and the advice given in the course of that relationship. Superior Court (1997) 55 Cal.App.4th 1546, 1557.)Ĭommunication between a lawyer and client is privileged if it is made in the course of the attorney-client relationship and in confidence. Code, § 954.) Its fundamental purpose is to “safeguard the confidential relationship between clients and their attorneys so as to promote full and open discussion of the facts and tactics surrounding individual legal matters.” ( Gordon v. The attorney-client privilege is an evidentiary rule that protects confidential communications between a lawyer and client from disclosure to third parties. Consideration should be given to the intricacies of the statutes and case law, and crafting a discovery plan that increases the chances of defendant producing employee/witness statements and incident reports, or an order compelling same. The attorney-client privilege and work-product doctrine do afford defendants protection from disclosure of incident (accident) reports and witness statements under certain circumstances, but such protection is not blanket or all-encompassing. ![]() Plaintiffs’ lawyers are frequently at a significant disadvantage for conducting contemporaneous investigation because of the passage of time between the injury-causing event and the date they are retained by the client.ĭefendant companies will attempt to thwart discovery of highly probative statements and reports taken shortly after the occurrence of the injury-producing event by claiming that they were “obtained in anticipation of litigation” or are otherwise privileged. In any personal-injury action, access to witness statements and reports taken in the immediate or near aftermath of the incident is critical for evaluation and workup of the case.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |