Court Opinion

ID: 9639478
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 16:19:41.408511+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:10:19.037686
License: Public Domain

TOM GRAY, Chief Justice,
concurring and dissenting.
PROCEDURAL PRELUDE
In the past we have had so few opinions withdrawn that no particular problems were created if the opinions were withdrawn by an order separate from the new opinions being issued. The problem is that we have recently withdrawn and reissued an inordinate number of opinions, with and without motions for rehearing, and when on motion for rehearing, with and without requesting responses. Issuing multiple opinions in the same appeal creates confusion. This makes it possible for a person to have two opinions from this Court, both certified by the clerk as authentic, which are not the same. This does not present a substantial problém when the issuance of another opinion in the same case is rarely done. But due to the greatly increased frequency of the majority issuing multiple opinions it is time to adopt the ■ procedure utilized by the Texas Supreme Court; to include in the second opinion, the order, and explanation if needed, withdrawing the prior opinion as part of the new opinion. See e.g., Crown Life Ins. Co. v. Casteel, 22 S.W.3d 378, 381 (Tex.2000). This information can be in the first paragraph or in a footnote, but it needs to be readily evident to the reader that this is not the only opinion issued in the case. This is a simple procedure for the convenience of anyone reading the opinions to understand and easily determine which opinion is the Court’s final *421opinion. This process also allows a researcher, interested in the ultimate disposition, to easily track backwards to see the development of the final opinion. Because the majority refuses to provide that information, I do so in this concurring and dissenting opinion.
Prior History of This Appeal
The Court’s opinion affirming the trial court’s judgment in part and reversing and remanding the judgment in part, this Court’s judgment, and Chief Justice Gray’s concurring and dissenting opinion, all dated July 13, 2005, are withdrawn by a separate, unpublished order dated September 28, 2005. That order also denies Appellant’s motion for rehearing, and grants Appellee’s motion for rehearing in part. The Court’s opinion, Chief Justice Gray’s concurring and dissenting opinion and the judgment of this date are substituted for those originally issued.
With these comments regarding the history of this appeal, I now proceed to the substance of my dissenting opinion.
THE DISSENTING OPINION
Sometimes all that is necessary to prove a privilege is the document itself. “When ... the claim for protection is based on a specific privilege, such as attorney-client or attorney work product, the documents themselves may constitute the only evidence substantiating the claim of privilege.” Weisel Enterprises, Inc. v. Curry, 718 S.W.2d 56, 58 (Tex.1986). But when this situation presents itself, it requires some careful analysis, analysis that is lacking in the majority opinion.
In this case, in addition to the documents being provided in camera, Kelly provided a privilege log to assist the trial court in the evaluation of the privileges asserted by Kelly. With regard to Kelly’s privilege log, I note that it also fails to identify the other recipients of items 2, 3, and 4.1 Because other persons received the documents, and there is no affidavit or other evidence of who these persons are, I agree that Kelly has failed to establish the privileges asserted to these three items. See E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Company, 136 S.W.3d 218, 225-226 (Tex.2004). I also note that the information in the log on items 2 and 3 is not entirely accurate.
Item 1 in the privilege log is clearly work product. Kelly sought to protect it on this basis. It should be protected. Thus, on this issue, I must dissent to the majority ordering these privileged documents turned over to the opposing party as part of this Court’s judgment. At the very least the trial court should be given the opportunity on remand to review the privileges asserted with the guidance provided by this Court’s opinions. Otherwise, I concur in the Court’s judgment.

. It is difficult to discern or correlate the documents produced in camera to the privilege log. The log has four items listed. The documents produced in camera are divided by five numbered tabs. The first three items behind tab 1 correspond to the first three items on the log. Everything after that, including what is behind each of the four remaining tabs, may have been part of a file as described in item 4 in the log. I simply cannot tell. There are many people who appear to have received the documents whose identities are not established. There are many discrete documents of different and diverse character. The privilege log should have listed each document and the privilege asserted to it. For a discussion of the procedure to establish a privilege at the trial court and what is necessary for review of a ruling on a privilege, see the excellent discussion by Justice Vance in In Re Monsanto, 998 S.W.2d 917 (Tex.App.-Waco 1999, orig. proceeding).