Once the privilege is established as to the material requested, in balancing the need for discovery and the need to protect the
attorney's work product, the burden rests on the one who would invade that privacy to establish adequate reasons to justify production through a subpoena or court order.
071 to revise the exemption from the
attorney's work product for a public agency and amending F.
contain "trade secrets" or when an
attorney's work product protection applies to the work of a non-testifying expert appraiser.
BY engaging the CPA's services under a Kovel letter prepared by an attorney, the CPA can freely communicate with the client under protection of the attorney-client privilege, and the work papers prepared by the CPA can be protected from discovery under the
attorney's work product privilege where they are not involved with return preparation.
Thus, while an independent auditor's legal assessment of a corporation's tax litigation risks may be discoverable by the Service, this by no means indicates that an
attorney's work product assessing these litigations risks should not receive work product protection.
495, 510 (1947) (holding protecting
attorney's work product necessary to proper preparation of legal arguments and strategies).
Consulting experts are not expected to testify, so their work is generally considered part of the
attorney's work product and is not discoverable.
Though Oklahoma courts have not ruled on this specific fact pattern, the court cited cases showing the weight of authority supports the notion that clients are the legal owners of their case files, including the
attorney's work product.
Early in the history of Florida's Public Records Act, the Florida Supreme Court declined to recognize any exemption for a government
attorney's work product or attorney-client privileged documents.
Under this privilege (codified in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(3)), a party seeking an
attorney's work product covered by the privilege is entitled to it only on a showing of a substantial need for it.
If a corporation discloses privileged communications or its
attorney's work product in response to an inquiry by a prosecutor or regulator investigating the corporation's activities, the corporation may have waived the privileges if a civil lawsuit is filed later.
If you can create a Kovel situation where the accountant is acting as an agent of the attorney, for the benefit of the client, the accountant's work and advice can become part of the
attorney's work product, and thus be protected under the umbrella of the attorney-client privilege.
