Court Opinion

ID: 9740179
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 20:29:27.317575+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:14.343291
License: Public Domain

WEDEMEYER, EJ.
¶ 28. (dissenting). I respectfully dissent from the majority opinion for the following reasons.
*824A. The Wisconsin Court of Appeals Standard of Review and Limited Power of Authority.
¶ 29. This court reviews questions of law de novo. Reyes v. Greatway Ins. Co., 227 Wis. 2d 357, 364-65, 597 N.W.2d 687 (1999). However, we must still adhere to the applicable supreme court precedent regardless of our disagreement with it. Professional Office Bldgs., Inc. v. Royal Indem. Co., 145 Wis. 2d 573, 581, 427 N.W.2d 427 (Ct. App. 1988). In addition to being obligated to follow the applicable supreme court precedent, this court is precluded from adopting and/or applying rules from foreign jurisdictions that contradict the Wisconsin Supreme Court precedent. Wolski v. Wilson, 174 Wis. 2d 533, 497 N.W.2d 794 (Ct. App. 1993).
¶ 30. Our supreme court is the only state court that has been granted the authority and power to create and modify principles of law. Cook v. Cook, 208 Wis. 2d 166, 189, 560 N.W.2d 246 (1977).1 Unlike this court, it has been designated by the constitution of this state and the legislature as the sole "law-declaring" state court. State ex rel. La Crosse Tribune v. Circuit Court, 115 Wis. 2d 220, 229-30, 340 N.W.2d 460 (1983). This court does not have the same authority or power. Rather, our primary function is to act as an error correcting court. State v. Schumacher, 144 Wis. 2d 388, 398, 424 N.W.2d 672 (1988); State v. Mosley, 102 Wis. 2d 636, 665-66, 307 N.W.2d 200 (1981); State v. Grawien, 123 Wis. 2d 428, 432, 367 N.W.2d 816 (Ct. App. 1985). The Wisconsin Supreme Court, in State ex rel. Swan v. *825Board of Elections, 133 Wis. 2d 87, 93-94, 394 N.W.2d 732 (1986) summarized the role of this court best in stating:
The court of appeals is intended to be a high-volume, error-correcting court, having a close relationship to the circuit courts in respect to the superintending control of circuit court functions.... The supreme court is primarily concerned with the institutional functions of our judicial system, while the court of appeals is charged primarily with error correcting in the individual case.
B. Wisconsin Attorney-Client Privilege Standard.
¶ 31. An attorney-client communication is privileged if it is "not intended to be disclosed to 3rd persons other than those to whom disclosure is in furtherance of the rendition of professional legal services to the client or those reasonably necessary for the transmission of the communication." Wis. Stat. § 905.03(l)(d). The attorney-client privilege belongs to, and is for the benefit of, the client; accordingly, only the client can "refuse to disclose and to prevent any other person from disclosing confidential communications made for the purpose of facilitating the rendition of professional legal services to the client. . . ." Wis. Stat. § 905.03(2).
¶ 32. It is the law in Wisconsin that only the client can waive the attorney-client privilege. State ex rel. Dudek v. Circuit Court, 34 Wis. 2d 559, 605, 150 N.W.2d 387 (1967); Swan Sales Corp. v. Joseph Schlitz Brewing Co., 126 Wis. 2d 16, 31-32, 374 N.W.2d 640 (Ct. App. 1985); Borgwardt v. Redlin, 196 Wis. 2d 342, 352-53, 355, 538 N.W.2d 581 (Ct. App. 1995). Only the client has the authority to direct the attorney to waive the attorney-client privilege. Dudek, 34 Wis. 2d at 605; Swan Sales Corp., 126 Wis. 2d at 31-32.
*826¶ 33. The Majority sets forth the three different tests used nationwide to determine the admissibility of previously disclosed attorney-client privileged documents: (1) the lenient test; (2) the strict test; and (3) the intermediate test. Majority slip op. at ¶ 8. In surveying the law, the referee discovered these three approaches.
¶ 34. Regardless of the tests being used by foreign jurisdictions across the nation, however, the circuit court here was bound to follow Wisconsin law. Any deviation from applying the law of this state will be corrected through an error of law analysis by this court.
¶ 35. The appellants contend that the circuit court incorrectly applied the leniency test to the instant case. They turn to the referee's opinion for support of their claim, pointing to the following excerpt:
However, even though I have found [Attorney] Elliott's actions do not allow plaintiffs to qualify for the "totality of the circumstances" test, if it is ultimately determined that Elliott's actions do not, as a matter of law, disqualify plaintiffs from the applicability of this rule, I will also apply the five factors making up the totality of the circumstances test to the facts in this case ...[.]
I have weighed all of the legal factors, and applied them to the testimony and evidence submitted in this case. I hold and conclude that plaintiffs have failed to meet their burden of proof. I find that plaintiffs' attorney-client privilege in the documents, exhibits 1-25, has been waived. Therefore, plaintiffs' motion must be denied.
¶ 36. A referee, however, must apply the law that exists in this state, and does not have the authority to make or speculate what law the Wisconsin Supreme Court may apply. In reaching his decision, it is my *827opinion that the referee did not follow precedent and arbitrarily applied his own conclusion. The referee came to the above-referenced conclusion despite finding that the documents in question were clearly privileged communication, as defined by Wis. Stat. § 905.03. He further found that the documents were made for the purposes of rendering legal services, that Ms. Bauer told Attorney Elliott the documents were prepared for counsel and constituted her thoughts, and that Ms. Bauer never intended or agreed that the documents in question could be disclosed to the defendants. Clearly, Ms. Bauer, as the client, never consented to waiving her attorney-client privilege; therefore, such privilege, under the laws of the State of Wisconsin, could not have been waived. The circuit court, although agreeing with the referee's findings of fact, correctly reversed its conclusion that the respondents waived their right to assert the attorney-client privilege, stating:
But I'm going to say that even though I think the world of Mr. Hodan as a lawyer and as a good human being and as a friend, our professional responsibilities are our professional responsibilities. Though I feel that way about Mr. Hodan, he's not on the court of appeals or on the Wisconsin State Supreme Court. And myself as a lowly, subservient trial judge is not on the court of appeals or on the supreme court, and we're not supposed to be making law. That's not our function. I tried that. I tried that gap in the past and did a dance with three of them up there and seven on another occasion. I think there's a distinction between applying legal consents recognized in Wisconsin which fall within a judge's discretion, exploring a whole new area of law that hasn't been addressed in Wisconsin but has been addressed by other states. So it's not within my province to make new law.
*828But the law in Wisconsin is only the client can waive attorney/client communications. The lawyers for the client is there to zealously protect, and the lawyer is not supposed to allow a waiver. You generally find a lot of this dialogue in criminal proceedings, the divorce arena or the family court arena, and civil court arena are a little bit different. The cases cited by plaintiffs' counsel are correct.
¶ 37. In reversing the referee's decision, the circuit court applied the standard currently espoused by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The circuit court correctly concluded that it is bound to follow and apply Wisconsin law. As a result, the circuit court was forced to amend the referee's conclusions of law to accurately reflect proper Wisconsin precedent. In my opinion, we are bound to follow the existing precedent until the Wisconsin Supreme Court concludes otherwise.2 Accordingly, I would affirm.

 1n some circumstances, we perform a second function, "that of law defining and law development, as [we] adapt[ ] the common law and interpret ] the statutes and federal and state constitutions in the cases [we] decide[ ]." Cook v. Cook, 208 Wis. 2d 166, 188, 560 N.W.2d 246 (1977).

 The Majority concludes that the existing law does not control the issue presented in this case because the waiver here was intentional and the existing case law addresses solely inadvertent disclosures. I disagree. In my opinion, we are bound to apply the general law applying to the attorney-client privilege until the Wisconsin Supreme Court, or our legislature, determines otherwise.