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

Heading: Purpose of Protections

Text: 76 The Supreme Court has required caution in the arena of testimonial privileges: these exceptions to the demand for every man's evidence are not lightly created nor expansively construed, for they are in derogation of the search for truth. United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683, 710, 94 S.Ct. 3090, 41 L.Ed.2d 1039 (1974). Because exceptions to the waiver rules necessarily broaden the reach of the privilege or protection, selective waiver must be viewed with caution. If the suggested exception advances the purpose of the privilege or protection, that exception should be viewed more favorably. 77 The generally recognized exceptions already in place tend to serve the purposes of the particular privilege or protection. When disclosure is necessary to accomplish the consultation or assist with the representation, as in the case of an interpreter, translator, or secretary, an exception to waiver preserves the privilege. See Mass. Inst. of Tech., 129 F.3d at 684; Westinghouse, 951 F.2d at 1424. Similarly, when the disclosure is to a party with a common interest, the joint defense or common interest doctrine provides an exception to waiver because disclosure advances the representation of the party and the attorney's preparation of the case. See Westinghouse, 951 F.2d at 1424; see also Grand Jury Proceedings v. United States, 156 F.3d 1038, 1042-43 (10th Cir. 1998) (stating that establishing joint-defense privilege requires showing (1) the documents were made in the course of a joint-defense effort; and (2) the documents were designed to further that effort). 78 The record in this case does not indicate that the proposed exception would promote the purposes of the attorney-client privilege or work-product doctrine. 6 Rather than promoting exchange between attorney and client, selective waiver could have the opposite effect of inhibiting such communication. If officers and employees know their employer could disclose privileged information to the government without risking a further waiver of the attorney-client privilege, they may well choose not to engage the attorney or do so guardedly. Such reticence and caution could be heightened where, as here, further disclosures by the government mean that the information may be disclosed to countless others. 79 Moreover, the purpose of the work-product doctrine is to enable counsel to prepare a case in privacy. As other circuits have indicated, selective waiver does little to further this purpose and in some cases, may instead encourage counsel to conduct investigations with an eye toward pleasing the government. See Columbia/HCA Healthcare, 293 F.3d at 306; Westinghouse, 951 F.2d at 1429-30; Steinhardt Partners, 9 F.3d at 235.