Opinion ID: 1862647
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Iowa law regarding waiver of privileged information.

Text: In our cases, we have addressed what matters fall under the work product privilege, see Squealer, 530 N.W.2d at 686-87, Shook, 497 N.W.2d at 887-88, Ashmead, 336 N.W.2d at 200-01, but we have never addressed possible waiver of the work product privilege. We did, however, address waiver of the attorney client privilege in Miller v. Continental Insurance Co., 392 N.W.2d 500, 504-05 (Iowa 1986). In Miller, we cited the rule that voluntary disclosure of the content of a privileged communication constitutes waiver as to all other communications on the same subject.  Id. (emphasis added). This rule is referred to as subject matter waiver. See In re Martin Marietta Corp., 856 F.2d 619, 623 (4th Cir.1988) (explaining subject matter waiver as a situation when disclosure of a confidential communication outside a privileged relationship waives the privilege as to all information related to the same subject matter). We held in Miller that by making certain disclosures of otherwise privileged information in affidavits, plaintiffs waived the attorney client privilege only as to the communications about the matter actually disclosed in the affidavits. Miller, 392 N.W.2d at 505. Exotica contends that the subject matter waiver rule applies in this case such that Kalafut's testimony in the Bush Ranch litigation amounts to a waiver of the work product privilege as to all Cowett documents in Kalafut's possession because they involve the same subject matter as the topic of Kalafut's testimony, that is, Cowett's opinion on the Benlate/atrazine contamination. Kalafut, on the other hand, argues that due to the policy differences between the attorney-client privilege and the work product privilege, the subject matter waiver rule does not extend to the work product privilege. Kalafut therefore contends that although he may have waived the work product privilege as to his specific statements in the Bush Ranch litigation, that waiver does not extend to all Cowett documents in his possession.