Confidentiality & Privilege

Physicians, including recent medical school graduates and physicians from other states or countries seeking a California medical license must fill out a state application which asks questions pertaining to criminal records.  Questions No.

In Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company v. Superior Court, the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District issued a strong opinion affirming the attorney-client and work-product privileges.

A recent case underscores the need to keep private communications private.  In Holmes v. Petrovich Development Company, an employee used her employer’s computer and email system to communicate with her lawyer about a potential discrimination claim.

One of the hottest issues these days is whether an employee has a right of privacy with respect to personal email and/or text messages sent while at work. The use of email and text messaging to communicate with family members and friends is a commonplace occurrence, especially during working hours.

In Mohawk Industries v. Carpenter, the U.S. Supreme Court held that there is no right to appeal from an interim court order requiring disclosure of information covered by the attorney-client privilege.

California law protects an attorney’s “work product” from discovery by the other side. The purpose of the privilege is to shield an attorney’s thoughts and impressions about a given case; an opponent can discover evidence, but not what the opposing attorney is thinking.

When parties participate in mediation, all statements made in the course of the proceedings are privileged and cannot become evidence in a later case. This is the essence of Evidence Code section 1119 which sets forth the “mediation privilege.

Pretrial Order Compelling Disclosure of Attorney-Client Communication Not Subject to Immediate Review In a case at odds with California law, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a pretrial discovery order that compels disclosure of an attorney-client communication is not subject to interim review.

The attorney-client privilege protects confidential communications between clients and attorneys.