Court Opinion

ID: 9628030
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 09:05:19.113855+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:06:56.254016
License: Public Domain

RAPER, Justice,
concurring.
I concur in every respect with the opinion of the majority. I only add an expression of alarm if the court should do otherwise. To go in any different direction would dangerously encroach upon the attorney-client privilege so jealously guarded by the language of Rule 26(b)(1), W.R.C.P., by Rule 501, W.R.E. and § l-12-101(a)(i), W.S.1977, so necessary for a satisfactory relationship, in that it would discourage honesty by a client to his attorney and intrude upon the right of privacy between a lawyer and his client. It must not be forgotten that the privilege is not only for defendants but for plaintiffs as well and could well be a two-edged sword if chipping away at its sanctity is permitted.
To not consider use of a medical review panel as an attorney’s work product would discourage his search for the truth and tend to daunt settlement of cases if the review *335should prove to be discouraging to the position of the client. An embarrassing and expensive trial might thus be avoided. Plaintiff’s attorneys have no exclusive claim to the difficulties and hardships of preparing for malpractice litigation. Defendant’s attorneys have problems of equal magnitude.