Opinion ID: 167649
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Confidentiality Agreements

Text: 71 Qwest also contends the key point distinguishing this case from the majority of the cases rejecting selective waiver is the fact that Qwest entered into confidentiality agreements with the agencies prior to disclosing the Waiver Documents. Some courts have held or indicated that the existence of a confidentiality agreement is irrelevant to a waiver of privileges. See, e.g., Columbia/HCA Healthcare, 293 F.3d at 303; Chrysler Motors Corp., 860 F.2d at 847. Others, however, have indicated that the existence of a confidentiality agreement may justify adopting selective waiver. See, e.g., Steinhardt Partners, 9 F.3d at 236; M & L Bus. Mach. Co., 161 B.R. at 696. 72 The record does not support reliance on the Qwest agreements with the SEC and the DOJ to justify selective waiver. The agreements do little to restrict the agencies' use of the materials they received from Qwest. The agencies are permitted to use the Waiver Documents as required by law and in furtherance of the discharge of their obligations. The DOJ is specifically permitted to share the Waiver Documents with other agencies, federal, state, and local, and make use of them in proceedings and investigations. In its brief, the DOJ illustrates just how far some of the documents may have traveled, stating that, at a minimum, Waiver Documents have been introduced into evidence in a criminal trial, produced as discovery in three separate criminal proceedings, and used as exhibits to SEC investigative testimony. The DOJ also informs us it was not required to segregate material obtained from Qwest, file it under seal, keep records of its use, or otherwise deal with the information in any special way, and it had made no effort to determine what information had been disseminated to third parties. DOJ Resp. Br. at 6. 73 The record does not indicate whether Qwest negotiated or could have negotiated for more protection for the Waiver Documents, or whether, as it asserted at oral argument, seeking further restrictions would have so diluted its cooperation to render it valueless. Be that as it may, the confidentiality agreements gave the agencies broad discretion to use the Waiver Documents as they saw fit, and any restrictions on their use were loose in practice. As Qwest has conceded, it is unknown how many or which of the Waiver Documents the agencies have used or disclosed, how those uses or disclosures occurred, who might have had access to the Waiver Documents, and the extent of continuing disclosures. It is therefore not inappropriate to conclude that some undetermined number of Waiver Documents have been widely disseminated and have thus become public information. 74 At oral argument, Qwest essentially conceded that those widely distributed Waiver Documents have lost any protection they once enjoyed. In so conceding, Qwest is effectively advocating a rule that would place control of its attorney-client privilege and work-product protection in the hands of the agencies. Under this rule, the agencies would determine which documents would remain privileged or protected by limitation on further dissemination. The concession highlights a further record deficiency: the nature and severity of the burden placed upon the district court to sort through all 220,000 pages of Waiver Documents to determine what use the government made of each document, and whether any further disclosure had vitiated an otherwise applicable privilege or protection. 75 In short, Qwest's confidentiality agreements do not support adoption of selective waiver.