what is the attorney work-product rule?

by Joana Doyle 4 min read

Work product rule is a principle that provides qualified immunity to the work product of an attorney from discovery or other compelled disclosure. The standard was set in the case, Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U.S. 495 (U.S. 1947). The rule was primarily established to protect an attorney's litigation strategy.

Attorney work product privilege permits attorneys to withhold from production documents and other tangible things prepared in anticipation of litigation by or for another party or its representative.

Full Answer

What is the Attorney work product doctrine?

Attorney work product privilege permits attorneys to withhold from production documents and other tangible things prepared in anticipation of litigation by or for another party or its representative. See: Fed. R. Civ. P. § 26(b)(3). As with attorney-client privilege, work product privilege does not protect underlying facts. See also: Hickman v.

What is work product rule?

The attorney-client privilege is a rule of evidence whereas the work product doctrine is embodied in the court’s civil procedure rules. The case law that has arisen around both the privilege and the work product doctrine reflect a tension between the two competing interests of ensuring confidentiality while at the same time promoting the ...

What is the definition of attorney work product?

The rule provides that a voluntary disclosure in a federal proceeding or to a federal office or agency, if a waiver, generally results in a waiver only of the communication or information disclosed; a subject matter waiver (of either privilege or work product) is reserved for those unusual situations in which fairness requires a further disclosure of related, protected …

What is attorney work product privilege?

Work product rule is a principle that provides qualified immunity to the work product of an attorney from discovery or other compelled disclosure. The standard was set in the case, Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U.S. 495 (U.S. 1947). The rule was primarily established to protect an attorney's litigation strategy.

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What is the work product rule in law?

A legal doctrine that provides that certain materials prepared by an attorney who is acting on behalf of his or her client during preparation for litigation are privileged from discovery by the attorney for the opposition party.

What kind of work falls under the work product rule?

The general rule is that legal research, records, correspondence, reports, or memoranda are attorney work product to the extent that they contain the opinions, theories, strategies, mental impressions, or conclusions of the client, the attorney, or persons participating in the case with the attorney, such as a jury ...

What is the difference between work product and attorney-client privilege?

According to the Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, the “attorney-client privilege refers to a legal privilege that works to keep confidential communications between an attorney and his or her client secret.” On the other hand, the Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute proclaims “the work product ...Mar 17, 2020

What is considered attorney work product California?

The attorney work product doctrine provides absolute protection to written work product that reveals an attorney's impressions, conclusions, opinions or legal research. 3. Attorney work product is defined in the governing statute as material created or derived from a lawyer's work.

Who holds the work product privilege?

attorney
Proc. § 2018.030. Even though the attorney client privilege and the work product doctrine are similar in many ways, the holders of these privileges are distinct. Rather than the client, the attorney is the holder of work product protection.

Is work product a privilege?

Generally, work product is privileged, meaning it is exempt from discovery.

What is the meaning of work product?

Legal Definition of work product

: the set of materials (as notes), mental impressions, conclusions, opinions, or legal theories developed by or for an attorney in anticipation of litigation or for trial.

Are client notes work product?

Notes made by a client to assist the client in preparing for his deposition were attorney-client or work-product privileged regardless of whether they were communicated to the attorney. In other words, “a client's notes are, ipso facto, attorney–client privileged.”Apr 21, 2020

Is the work-product doctrine part of the attorney client privilege?

Attorney work product privilege permits attorneys to withhold from production documents and other tangible things prepared in anticipation of litigation by or for another party or its representative.

Are emails between lawyers discoverable?

Emails are discoverable, unless they are subject to the Attorney Client or Work Product Privilege. It is important to note that forwarding a privileged email to a party outside of the attorney client relationship will likely result in the waiver of the privilege. Emails of in-house counsel are especially sensitive.Jul 9, 2018

Is a client entitled to attorney work product in California?

As one court noted, "California has two conflicting absolutes, the absolute right of a client to his attorney's work product, and the absolute right of an attorney to protect his or her impressions, conclusions, opinions, and legal research or theories from disclosure." (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.Feb 27, 2012

Are witness statements confidential?

Are witness statements confidential? Not quite. Once your witness statement is served, it may only be used for the legal proceedings for which it is produced. the witness statement has been put into evidence at a hearing to be held in public, ie in open court.Apr 8, 2020

What is work product protection?

(2) “work-product protection” means the protection that applicable law provides for tangible material (or its intangible equivalent) prepared in anticipation of litigation or for trial.

What is a lawyer client privilege?

1) It resolves some longstanding disputes in the courts about the effect of certain disclosures of communications or information protected by the attorney-client privilege or as work product—specifically those disputes involving inadvertent disclosure and subject matter waiver.

What is the meaning of Rule 501?

(g) Definitions. In this rule: (1) “attorney-client privilege” means the protection that applicable law provides for confidential attorney-client communications; and. (2) “work-product protection” means the protection that applicable law provides ...

What is subdivision G?

Subdivision (g). The rule's coverage is limited to attorney-client privilege and work product. The operation of waiver by disclosure, as applied to other evidentiary privileges, remains a question of federal common law.

Does the work product doctrine apply to wrongful conduct?

The work product doctrine does not apply to documents that may establish wrongful conduct, which are carved out by the crime-fraud exception. Interestingly, the earliest Colorado decision to address the crime-fraud exception to the work product doctrine came before Hawkins explicitly established the doctrine itself. In A v. District Court, the Colorado Supreme Court considered whether documents prepared by counsel for specific civil litigation were protected from discovery under the work product doctrine in grand jury proceedings. 49 The Court noted that the nature of civil and grand jury proceedings was vastly different, and the alignment of parties in such proceedings was not similar. 50 Based on this, the Court held that “the civil litigation in which the work-product was gathered is not so closely related to the grand jury investigation as to require the application of the work-product exemption.” 51

What is the work product doctrine?

1 In Hickman, the Court aimed to balance the “competing interests” of the privacy of a lawyer’s work and public policy encouraging reasonable and necessary inquiries. 2 Hickman concerned the defense of the owners of a sunken tugboat following the drowning of five of its nine crew members while they were operating the tugboat to assist a car float across the Delaware River. A month after the accident, a public hearing was held before the US Steamboat Inspectors, at which the four survivors were examined. Three weeks later, the survivors were privately interviewed by a lawyer retained in anticipation of litigation against the tugboat owners. While four of the five deceased crew members’ estates settled before litigation, the fifth claimant brought a lawsuit eight months after the interviews were conducted.

What is attorney client privilege?

The attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine are sometimes confused. The attorney-client privilege is similar to, yet distinct from, the work product doctrine, and the differences are important. The attorney-client privilege aims to protect confidential communications between the attorney and the client for the purpose ...

What is discoverable under CRCP 26?

Under CRCP 26, information prepared in anticipation of litigation is discoverable “only upon showing that the party seeking discovery has substantial need of the materials.” 37 Cardenas v. Jerath provides guidance on what “substantial need” a party seeking materials must demonstrate to obtain work product that would normally be protected. 38 The Colorado Supreme Court in Cardenas recognized that “a party is unable without undue hardship to obtain the substantial equivalent of the materials by other means when the requested materials are not available by any other source.” 39 Demonstrating substantial hardship requires the moving party to show that “the facts contained in the requested documents are essential elements of the requesting party’s prima facie case.” 40

What is the work product doctrine?

Work-product doctrine. In American civil procedure, the work- product doctrine protects materials prepared in anticipation of litigation from discovery by opposing counsel. It is also known as the work-product rule, the work-product immunity, the work-product exception, and the work-product privilege, though there is debate about whether it is truly ...

When was the work product doctrine first used?

The work-product doctrine originated in the 1947 case of Hickman v. Taylor, in which the Supreme Court affirmed a United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit decision which excluded from discovery of oral and written statements made by witnesses to a defendant's attorney.

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History of The Work Product Doctrine

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The work product doctrine was first established in 1947 in the US Supreme Court’s landmark case Hickman v. Taylor.1 In Hickman, the Court aimed to balance the “competing interests” of the privacy of a lawyer’s work and public policy encouraging reasonable and necessary inquiries.2 Hickman concerned the defen…
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The Work Product Doctrine in Colorado

  • The Colorado Supreme Court codified the work product doctrine at CRCP 26(b)(3), effective April 1, 1970.15 This rule allows discovery for information “prepared in anticipation of litigation or for trial by or for another party or by or for that other party’s representative.”16 The rule qualifies this access by requiring a showing of “substantial need” of the materials requested and that the subs…
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The “Substantial Need” Exception

  • Under CRCP 26, information prepared in anticipation of litigation is discoverable “only upon showing that the party seeking discovery has substantial need of the materials.”37 Cardenas v. Jerath provides guidance on what “substantial need” a party seeking materials must demonstrate to obtain work product that would normally be protected.38 The Colorado Supreme Court inCard…
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The Crime-Fraud Exception

  • The work product doctrine does not apply to documents that may establish wrongful conduct, which are carved out by the crime-fraud exception. Interestingly, the earliest Colorado decision to address the crime-fraud exception to the work product doctrine came before Hawkins explicitly established the doctrine itself. InA v. District Court, the Colorado Supreme Court considered whe…
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Work Product Protection For Expert Witnesses

  • The 2015 amendments to the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure clarified the scope of discovery regarding expert witness-related communications and draft reports.59 Previously, the rules did not provide express protections for draft reports of and communications with experts. CRCP 26(b)(4)(D) now expressly protects drafts of any report and “communications between the party’…
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Comparing The Work Product Doctrine with The Attorney-Client Privilege

  • The attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine are sometimes confused. The attorney-client privilege is similar to, yet distinct from, the work product doctrine, and the differences are important. The attorney-client privilege aims to protect confidential communications between the attorney and the client for the purpose of maximizing full disclosu…
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Conclusion

  • The application of the work product doctrine and any potential disclosure of work product remain factually intensive questions that vary from one situation to the next. In applying the doctrine, courts must assess, according to relevant case law, whether litigation is truly imminent, whether a substantial need for the work product exists, the presence of an undue hardship in otherwise obt…
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