(United States District Court, Eastern District of Washington) Neill CJ said: ‘All of these established exceptions to the rules of privilege have a common denominator; in each instance, the party asserting the privilege placed information protected by it in issue through some affirmative act for his own benefit, and to allow the privilege to protect against disclosure of such information would have been manifestly unfair to the opposing party. The factors common to each exception may be summarized as follows: (I) assertion of the privilege was a result of some affirmative act, such as filing suit, by the asserting party; (2) through this affirmative act, the asserting party put the protected information at issue by making it relevant to the case; and (3) application of the privilege would have denied the opposing party access to information vital to his defense. Thus, where these conditions exist, a court should find that the party asserting a privilege has impliedly waived it through his own affirmative conduct.’
Judges:
Neil CJ
Citations:
(1975) 68 FRD 574
Cited by:
Cited – Farm Assist Ltd v Secretary of State for Environment Food and Rural Affairs TCC 12-Dec-2008
The claimant, now in liquidation, sought to have set aside for economic duress the mediated settlement of its dispute with the defendant. The defendant sought disclosure of legal and similar advice given to the claimant.
Held: Paragon Finance . .
Cited – Nederlandse Reassurantie Groep Holding NV v Bacon and Woodrow Holding 1995
A Dutch corporation had obtained advice from lawyers and other professionals before purchasing share capital in insurance companies. After the purchase the corporation discovered that it was exposed to large losses and began proceedings in . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Legal Professions, International
Updated: 04 May 2022; Ref: scu.521201