Thursday, May 13th, 2010...8:41 am
9th Cir: Mandamus on Attorney-Client Privilege
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The 9th Circuit has granted mandamus to review and reverse an order holding that a discrimination plaintiff had waived the attorney-client privilege by revealing information learned when his previous attorney had interviewed a witness who later balked at testifying. In Mohawk Industries, inc. v. Carpenter, 130 S.Ct. 599 (2009), the Supreme Court had held that “the collateral order doctrine does not extend to disclosure orders adverse to the attorney-client privilege.” The writ of mandamus is still available in extreme cases. Here, the 9th Circuit held that the District Court judge was clearly wrong when he applied the waiver to communications broader than those revealed.
Hernandez v. Tanninen, ___ F.3d ___ (9th Cir. May 12, 2010)
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