What do Palm Beach commercial litigators need to know about attorney-client privilege and work product doctrine?

The attorney-client privilege and the work-product doctrine are vital to the client’s ability to freely confide in his lawyer. These legal rules are important for the Palm Beach commercial litigator in protecting information relating to the representation of the commercial client.

• FPL v. Hicks, a recent Palm Beach appeal court case, involved a court order for FPL to produce attorney-client privileged documents. 
• Hicks filed a motion to compel, asking the circuit court to order FPL to turn over these documents based on Hick’s showing of relevance and necessity.
• On appeal, the Court made it clear–unlike the work-product doctrine, an opponent cannot request production of attorney-client privileged communications based on a showing of relevance and need. To read a free online copy of this legal opinion, click here.

Discovery in Civil Litigation:

• The Broward commercial litigator should keep this recent court ruling in mind when representing a business client in a civil litigation matter.
• For instance, the opposing party in a civil litigation may seek to compel certain privileged documents, arguing that such documents may not reasonably be obtained from another source.
• During the discovery process, the commercial litigator in Miami should ask himself whether the information that the other side is requesting is relevant to the case and whether that information is privileged.
• The attorney-client privilege belongs to the client.
• The litigator in Boca Raton must assert the privilege on the client’s behalf and take care not to waive it.