Court Opinion

ID: 9838494
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-06 16:08:27.340906+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:02:36.013757
License: Public Domain

J-A28031-22

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

 FURRUKH MUNAWAR AND AAIYSHA            :   IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
 MUNAWAR                                :        PENNSYLVANIA
                                        :
                                        :
              v.                        :
                                        :
                                        :
 TOLL BROTHERS, INC, TOLL PA II,        :
 L.P., TOLL PA GP CORP, TOLL BROS.,     :   No. 173 EDA 2022
 INC., TOLL ARCHITECTURE, INC.,         :
 TOLL ARCHITECTURE I, P.A.              :
                                        :
                                        :
              v.                        :
                                        :
                                        :
 ANDERSEN WINDOWS, INC., MACK-          :
 DONOHOE CONTRACTORS, INC.,             :
 MILLENNIUM CONTRACTING                 :
 CORPORATION                            :
                                        :
                                        :
 APPEAL OF: MARY P. HANSEN              :

             Appeal from the Order Entered January 10, 2022
   In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Civil Division at
                           No(s): 171003571

 FURRUKH MUNAWAR & AAIYSHA              :   IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
 MUNAWAR                                :        PENNSYLVANIA
                                        :
                                        :
              v.                        :
                                        :
                                        :
 TOLL BROTHERS INC., TOLL PA, II,       :
 L.P., TOLL PA GP CORP. AND TOLL        :   No. 186 EDA 2022
 BROS, INC.,TOLL ARCHITECTURE,          :
 INC., TOLL ARCHITECTURE I, P.A.        :
                                        :
                                        :
              v.                        :
                                        :
J-A28031-22

                                            :
 ANDERSEN WINDOWS, INC., MACK-              :
 DONOHOE CONTRACTORS, INC.,                 :
 MILLENNIUM CONTRACTING                     :
 CORPORATION                                :
                                            :
                                            :
 APPEAL OF: TOLL BROTHERS, INC.,            :
 TOLL PA II, L.P., TOLL PA GP CORP.         :
 AND TOLL BROS., INC.                       :

               Appeal from the Order Dated January 10, 2022
    In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Civil Division at
                            No(s): 171003571

BEFORE: PANELLA, P.J., LAZARUS, J., and SULLIVAN, J.

MEMORANDUM BY SULLIVAN, J.:                        FILED SEPTEMBER 6, 2023

      Toll Brothers, Inc., Toll PA II, L.P., Toll PA GP Corp., and Toll Bros., Inc.

(collectively, “Toll”) and Mary P. Hansen (“Attorney Hansen”) (collectively,

“Appellants”) appeal from the discovery order that denied their motions to

quash a subpoena for Attorney Hansen to appear at a deposition and produce

documents to Furrukh Munawar and Aaiysha Munawar (“Appellees”).                We

affirm in part, vacate in part, and remand this matter to the trial court.

      Toll is a publicly-traded company that constructs, markets, and sells

residential homes.    Numerous owners of Toll’s houses have sued Toll for

defective construction and alleging that their homes suffered water damage

(“water infiltration claims”).

                                      -2-
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       In 2015 and 2016, Toll filed with the United States Securities and

Exchange Commission (“SEC”) public 10-K reports1 that stated Toll’s increases

in its financial reserves (“reserves”) for repairs.     The reported increases

apparently prompted the SEC to inquire with Toll about its reserves (“the SEC

inquiry”). Specifically, in 2016, the SEC’s Division of Corporate Finance sent

a letter to Toll that requested explanations for: its reported reserves in 2014

and 2015; the accounting of possible recoveries from outside insurance

carriers; and Toll’s assertion that the claims against it were not material to its

financial condition.     See Letter from Toll to SEC, 5/17/16, at 2-4.        Toll

responded to that letter. In 2017, the SEC’s Division of Enforcement issued a

letter advising Toll that it was conducting an informal investigation based on

Toll’s 2016 10-K and 10-Q reports and requesting that Toll voluntarily provide

additional information about the bases and timing of its decisions to report

additional repair costs and expected insurance recoveries. See R.R. at 992-

94a (Letter from SEC to Toll, 4/25/17).2 The SEC’s 2017 letter stated: “This
____________________________________________

1 The SEC requires most publicly traded companies to file annual (10-K) and

quarterly (10-Q) reports which provide snapshots of a company’s business,
the risks it faces, and its operating and financial results. See SEC Investor
Alerts and Bulletins, “How to Read a 10-K/10-Q,” 1/25/21 (available at
https://www.sec.gov/oiea/investor-alerts-and-bulletins/how-read-10-k10-
q).

2 A copy of the 2017 SEC letter does not appear in the certified record.
However, Appellees attached the 2017 SEC letter to a supplemental brief they
presumably submitted to the trial court. The supplemental brief also does not
appear in the certified record. However, both the supplemental brief and the
attachments are included in Appellants’ reproduced record. The attachments
(Footnote Continued Next Page)

                                           -3-
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investigation is a non-public, fact-finding inquiry. The investigation does not

mean that we have concluded that you or anyone else has violated the law.”

Id. at 994a. At some point during the SEC inquiry, Toll retained Attorney

Hansen as outside counsel to respond to the SEC. After at least one exchange

of documents between Toll and the SEC, the SEC took no further enforcement

action.

       Appellees own a house constructed by Toll, and in 2017, they sued Toll

alleging water infiltration claims. Toll, Appellees, and other plaintiffs suing

Toll have since engaged in lengthy and contentious discovery proceedings,

during which Appellees requested from Toll the documents it used to respond

to the SEC inquiry. Toll refused to identify or disclose those documents.

       The trial court issued two previous discovery orders concerning the

documents. First, in January 2021, the trial court ordered Toll to produce

“those records disclosed to the SEC that [were] not subject to a confidentiality

agreement with the [SEC]” or to provide “a detailed log identifying the

documents that they believe are protected and stating the reasons why.”

Order, 1/14/21, at ¶ D (“the January 2021 order”). Second, in July 2021, the

trial court directed Toll to “produce to [Appellees] the confidentiality
____________________________________________

to the supplemental brief contain four letters concerning the SEC’s inquiry into
Toll’s reported reserves in 2014 and 2015, one only of which was included in
the certified record. The 2017 SEC letter included in the attachments concern
an additional increase in Toll’s reserves reported in 2016. Appellees have not
objected to the accuracy of the reproduced record. See WMI Grp., Inc. v.
Fox, 109 A.3d 740, 744 n.5 (Pa. Super. 2015) (noting that this Court may
consider documents not included in the record but which are in the reproduced
record where neither party disputes the accuracy of the documents)

                                           -4-
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agreement entered into between [Toll and the SEC] relating to the documents,

records, and disclosures . . . to the SEC[,]” and “a detailed privilege log of all

documents, records, and disclosures Toll . . . provided, produced, or otherwise

made to the SEC.” See Order, 7/15/21, at ¶¶ 3-4 (underline in original) (“the

July 2021 order”).3

       Toll then produced Attorney Hansen’s affidavit asserting that Toll

retained her to respond to the SEC inquiry into the estimated repair costs for

fiscal year 2016. See Attorney Hansen’s Affidavit, 7/29/21, at 1. Attorney

Hansen averred that she explained to the SEC that Toll’s legal department was

actively involved in decisions related to the accrual of water infiltration claims

and that the response included confidential matters involving the attorney-

client privilege, work-product protection, and trade secrets. See id. Attorney

Hansen claimed she and Toll disclosed the documents to the SEC subject to

an oral confidentiality agreement with the SEC. See id. Attorney Hansen

added that “the very selection and compilation of the documents reflect[ed

her] mental impressions in identifying what [she] believed to be responsive

and relevant to the SEC inquiry.”              Id. at 1-2.   She concluded that Toll

expressly and repeatedly preserved all privileges related to the documents

and the SEC confirmed that Toll’s documents and disclosures during the

inquiry would not waive any privilege. See id. at 2. Neither Toll nor Attorney
____________________________________________

3 The trial court entered the July 15, 2021 order under the caption Adams v.

Toll, and Toll appealed a separate provision of that order. See Adams v.
Toll Bros., Inc., 283 A.3d 406 (Pa. Super. 2022) (unpublished
memorandum).

                                           -5-
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Hansen, however, provided a privilege log identifying a specific document or

the alleged privilege applicable to a specific document.

       Appellees, in turn, subpoenaed Attorney Hansen to appear at a

deposition and requested that she bring with her documents related to the

SEC inquiry and her assertion of a confidentiality agreement between Toll and

the SEC.4 Appellants separately moved to quash the subpoena and requested

a protective order. On January 10, 2022, the trial court entered the third

order in this matter (“the January 2022 order”) and denied Appellants’

motions.5 The order stated:

       1. [Attorney] Hansen will appear for her subpoenaed deposition
          within fifteen (15) days from the date of the entry of this Order.
          . . ..

       2. [Attorney] Hansen will produce the documents provided in
          response to a 2016 SEC inquiry into [Toll’s] disclosure of
          estimated repair costs for fiscal year 2016, by no later than the
          time of her subpoenaed deposition.

Order, 1/10/22 (“the January 2022 order”).

____________________________________________

4 Appellees attached to their subpoena of Attorney Hansen a schedule
identifying the information and documents they sought. See Subpoena of
Attorney Hansen, Schedule A and Instructions, 8/13/21. Appellees included
a provision for Attorney Hansen to provide a privilege log to support assertions
that documents were privileged.

5 Although the trial court issued the order on January 4, 2022, the docketing

of service of the order did not occur until January 10, 2022.

                                           -6-
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       Appellants sought reconsideration of the January 2022 order and then

filed separate timely appeals.6 The trial court did not order Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b)

statements but filed separate, but substantially similar, opinions concluding

that Appellants’ disclosure of documents during the SEC inquiry waived any

privilege or evidentiary protection. See Trial Court Opinion, 186 EDA 2022,

6/24/22, at 5, 13-15 (cited hereinafter as “Trial Court Opinion”).7

       Appellants raise the following issues for our review:

       1. Did the trial court err by ordering the production of documents
          that are immune from discovery because they are privileged,
          subject to work product protection, and confidential under the
          Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct, and where those

____________________________________________

6 See generally Green v. Trustee of University of Pennsylvania, 265
A.3d 703, 707 n.4 (Pa. Super. 2021) (discussing Pa.R.A.P. 1701(b)(3) and
noting that a motion for reconsideration does not toll the time to take an
appeal unless the trial court express grants reconsideration and vacates the
appealed order).     The trial court subsequently denied reconsideration,
including Appellants’ claim that the SEC’s denial of Appellees’ request for the
documents pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C.A.
§ 552, supported their claim that the SEC treated Toll’s documents as
confidential.

7 This Court issued a rule to show cause why these appeals should not be
quashed because the trial court’s order did not expressly require disclosure of
Toll’s documents. Appellants answered asserting that the collateral order
doctrine applied to the denial of its claims that the documents constituted
work product. This Court discharged the rule to show cause. In their brief,
Appellants note that the trial court’s opinion later clarified that the court
intended to compel disclosure of the documents that Appellants sent to the
SEC. See Appellants’ Brief at 4; see also Trial Court Opinion, 6/24/22, at 4,
n.1. The trial court’s opinion also clarified that it directed the January 2022
order to Toll. See Trial Court Opinion, 6/24/22, at 4, n.1. This Court
subsequently granted Appellants’ application to consolidate the appeals.
Appellants have filed a joint brief in this appeal.

                                           -7-
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         protections were not waived by disclosure to the SEC pursuant
         to a confidentiality agreement?

      2. Did the trial court err by ordering the production of privileged,
         work product protected, and confidential documents from Toll’s
         former counsel where any request for the production of such
         documents should have been directed to Toll directly because,
         among other reasons, Toll’s former counsel is required by the
         Rules of Professional Conduct to preserve privilege and
         confidentiality and allowing discovery from a party’s counsel
         risks interfering with the attorney‐client relationship and an
         orderly adversarial process?

Appellants’ Brief at 8.

      Before addressing the merits of these appeals, we consider Appellants’

invocation of this Court’s jurisdiction pursuant to the collateral order doctrine

set forth in Pa.R.A.P. 313. See In re Estate of McAleer, 248 A.3d 416, 424

(Pa. 2021).

      A collateral order

      is an order [1] separable from and collateral to the main cause of
      action where [2] the right involved is too important to be denied
      review and [3] the question presented is such that if review is
      postponed until final judgment in the case, the claim will be
      irreparably lost.

Shearer v. Hafer, 177 A.3d 850, 857 (Pa. 2018) (quoting Pa.R.A.P. 313;

brackets in original). The appealing party must establish all three prongs of

the collateral order rule for an appellate court to exercise jurisdiction. See id.

at 857-58.

      “[T]he collateral order doctrine is to be narrowly construed in order to

buttress the final order doctrine, and by the recognition that a party may seek

an interlocutory appeal by permission . . ..” See id. at 858 (internal citations

omitted).     Narrow construction of the collateral order doctrine avoids

                                      -8-
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piecemeal determinations and the unnecessary protraction of litigation. See

Rae v. Pennsylvania Funeral Directors Ass’n, 977 A.2d 1121, 1129 (Pa.

2009). A court must consider whether each distinct legal issue meets the

requirements of Rule 313. See id. at 1130.

      We conclude that we have jurisdiction pursuant to the collateral order

doctrine.   The issues related to the trial court’s January 2022 order are

separable from Appellees’ water infiltration claims against Toll. Appellants’

claimed right to confidentiality under the work-product doctrine implicates

important rights. Postponement of a review of the trial court’s conclusion that

Appellants waived that right would result in an irreparable loss of the right.

Accordingly, Appellants satisfied the three elements of the collateral order

doctrine to invoke this Court’s jurisdiction. See McIlmail v. Archdiocese of

Philadelphia, 189 A.3d 1100, 1105 (Pa. Super. 2018).

      Appellants, in their first issue, present two related arguments: (1) they

established that the documents sent to the SEC constituted Attorney Hansen’s

work product and (2) the trial court erred when finding Toll waived any claims

of privilege by disclosing the documents to the SEC.

       We review the trial court’s discovery order for an abuse of discretion.

See Carlino East Brandywine, L.P. v. Brandywine Villages Associates,

260 A.3d 179, 195-96 (Pa. Super. 2021) (hereinafter, “Carlino”). The proper

application of evidentiary privileges presents a question of law over which our

standard and scope of review is de novo and plenary. See BouSamra v.

Excela Health, 210 A.3d 967, 973 (Pa. 2019).

                                     -9-
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       It is well settled that claims of privilege involve shifting burdens of

production. See Carlino, 260 A.3d at 197. Initially, the party claiming a

privilege or protection bears the burden of producing facts to establish the

proper invocation of a privilege or protection. See id. If the party opposing

disclosure fails to do so, our review will end. See id. If the opposing party

properly invokes a privilege or protection, the burden will then shift to the

party seeking discovery to establish waiver of the privilege or protection or an

exception that would permit disclosure. See id.

       We initially consider whether Appellants established that the documents

at issue were Attorney Hansen’s work product.8

       The Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure provide that the scope of

discovery is broad and extends to unprivileged matters “relevant to the

subject matter involved in the pending action, whether it relates to the claim

or defense of the party seeking discovery or to the claim or defense of any

other party. . ..” Pa.R.Civ.P. 4003.1. This includes “the existence, description,

nature, content, custody, condition and location of any books, documents, or

other tangible things and the identity and location of persons having

knowledge of any discoverable matter.” Id.

       Rule 4003.3 defines work-product protection as follows:

____________________________________________

8 Appellants correctly observe that the trial court did not specifically address

their assertions that the work-product protection, or any other privilege,
applied. Although the trial court did not consider whether the documents were
Attorney Hansen’s work product, we will address that question because it
involves a question of law. See BouSamra, 210 A.3d at 973.

                                          - 10 -
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       . . .a party may obtain discovery of any matter discoverable under
       Rule 4003.1 even though prepared in anticipation of litigation or
       trial by or for another party or by or for that other party’s
       representative, including his or her attorney, consultant, surety,
       indemnitor, insurer or agent. The discovery shall not include
       disclosure of the mental impressions of a party’s attorney
       or his or her conclusions, opinions, memoranda, notes or
       summaries, legal research or legal theories. With respect to
       the representative of a party other than the party’s attorney,
       discovery shall not include disclosure of his or her mental
       impressions, conclusions or opinions respecting the value or merit
       of a claim or defense or respecting strategy or tactics.

Pa.R.Civ.P. 4003.3 (emphasis added). The comment to Rule 4003.3 states

that the rule “is carefully drawn and means exactly what it says” and

“immunizes      the    lawyer’s    mental      impressions,   conclusions,   opinions,

memoranda, notes, summaries, legal research and legal theories, nothing

more.” See Pa.R.Civ.P 4003.3, Comment.

       Appellants contend         they properly established that        work-product

protection applied because Attorney Hansen’s selection and compilation of

documents when responding to the SEC inquiry reflected her mental processes

and opinions as Toll’s counsel.          In support of this “compilation theory,”

Appellants principally rely on the United States Third Circuit Court of Appeals

decision in Sporck v. Peil, 759 F.2d 312 (3d Cir. 1985), which reasoned that

an attorney’s selection of documents reflect her mental impressions and

opinions concerning litigation.9
____________________________________________

9 In Sporck, the plaintiff, Peil, sued defendants, including a company and the

company’s president, Sporck. See Sporck, 759 F.2d at 313. The defendants
produced massive amounts of documents during discovery. See id. In
preparing for Sporck’s deposition, defense counsel selected a subset of the
(Footnote Continued Next Page)

                                          - 11 -
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       Appellants’ reliance on Sporck for a “compilation theory” of work-

product protection is unavailing. It is well settled that federal appellate courts

decisions do not bind a Pennsylvania court but may be persuasive.            See

Carbis Walker, LLP v. Hill, Barth & King, LLC, 930 A.2d 573, 581 & n.9,

583 & n.16 (Pa. Super. 2007). Sporck involved the application of the federal

rules of civil procedure, not Pennsylvania law, and there are significant

differences between the relevant federal and Pennsylvania rules, which

diminish its persuasive value in this appeal.10        Crucially, the facts and

reasoning of Sporck are distinguishable from the present case. In Sporck,

the defense previously disclosed all documents to the plaintiff, and the
____________________________________________

discovery documents. See id. At the deposition, counsel for Peil asked
whether Sporck had reviewed any documents before his deposition, and after
Sporck replied that he had, Peil’s counsel requested the identification and
production of the documents Sporck had reviewed. See id. at 313-14.
Defense counsel refused the request. The Third Circuit ultimately agreed with
the defense that the identification and production of the documents that
defense counsel had compiled in preparation for the deposition would reveal
defense counsel’s mental impressions and opinions about the litigation and
thus invade counsel’s work product. See id. at 316.

10 The Sporck Court, in relevant part, addressed Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(b) and the

rule’s interaction with Fed.R.E. 612, concerning the documents used to refresh
a witness’s memory. See Sporck, 759 F.2d at 317-18. Pennsylvania Rule
4003.3 differs from Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b) on several salient
points. See Pa.R.Civ.P. 4003.3, Comment (noting that, unlike federal Rule
26(b), Rule 4003.3 does not require a showing of substantial need and undue
hardship to compel disclosure and does not place attorneys and party
representatives on equal footing); see also BouSamra, 210 A.3d at 976 &
n.6 (noting that Rule 4003.3 is broader than Federal Rule 26(b) because Rule
4003.3 applies to mental impressions and documents not prepared in
anticipation of litigation).    We note that no published decision by a
Pennsylvania appellate court has cited Sporck or has adopted a “compilation
theory” of work-product protection.

                                          - 12 -
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application of the “compilation theory” only prevented the plaintiff from

gleaning defense counsel’s opinion about which documents were most

relevant to the ongoing litigation. See Sporck, 759 F.2d at 313-14, 316-17.

Here, Toll has not disclosed any documents in the alleged compilation and has

yet to even identify the nature of any document in a privilege log. Appellants

seek a far broader application of the “compilation theory” than recognized in

Spork in order to independently protect each document within the compilation

as work product and to justify Toll’s refusals to comply with two prior court

orders to submit a privilege log to assess its claim privilege on a document-

by-document basis.

      Having reviewed Sporck and the record in this case, we conclude that

Appellants have not established a factual or legal basis for a broad application

of the “compilation theory.” The fact that Attorney Hansen, as Toll’s outside

counsel at the time of SEC inquiry, exercised her professional judgment when

she reviewed, selected, and compiled documents to respond to the SEC does

not support the proposition that each individual document within her alleged

compilation is protected as her work product.         Cf. Pa.R.Civ.P. 4003.3,

Comment (stating that the mere placement of documents in a lawyer’s file

does not protect documents otherwise subject to discovery).           Thus, we

                                     - 13 -
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conclude that the “compilation theory” of work-product protection does not

apply in this case.11

       In their next argument, Appellants assert that their disclosures to the

SEC did not result in the waiver of any claim of work-product protection

because they maintained a reasonable belief that the SEC would treat their

responses confidentially.

       In BouSamra, our Supreme Court set forth the standards for

considering the waiver of work-product protection. The Court initially noted

that   unlike   the    attorney-client     privilege,   which   protects   confidential

communications between an attorney and her client, work-product protection

affords an attorney freedom to form mental impressions and opinions about a

matter without fear that her impressions and opinions will be used against

her. BouSamra, 210 A.3d at 977-78, 982. The Court stated:

____________________________________________

11 Appellants also contend that if this Court rejects the “compilation theory” of

work-product protection, this Court should remand to allow them to establish
whether any given document in the compilation is protected or privileged.
They assert that trial court did not afford them a proper opportunity to assert
claims on a document-by-document basis.

We emphasize that Toll has yet to provide a privilege log concerning the
document sent to the SEC despite having prior opportunities to comply with
the trial court’s January 2021 and July 2021 orders. However, because the
trial court did not find waiver on this basis, we will not do so independently.
Cf. Carlino, 260 A.3d at 199 (concluding that waiver based on the failure to
submit a privilege log was inappropriate when the procedural posture of that
case was such that the trial court had to determine whether the requesting
party was entitled to privileged documents because the opposing party waived
their claim of privilege).

                                          - 14 -
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      As is clear from the text of [Rule 4003.3] as well as the
      jurisprudence      surrounding    the    work   product  doctrine,
      confidentiality is not a cornerstone of the accompanying privilege.
      . . . Accordingly, because the purposes of the attorney-client
      privilege and the work product doctrine are different, the waiver
      analysis for each rule necessarily diverges as well.

      Whereas disclosure to a third party generally waives the attorney-
      client privilege, the same cannot be said for application of the
      work product doctrine because disclosure does not always
      undermine its purpose.

Id. at 976-78 (internal citations, quotations, brackets and footnotes omitted).

      The BouSamra Court articulated the following test for waiver of work-

product protection based on the purposes of the doctrine:

      [W]e hold that the work product doctrine is waived when the work
      product is shared with an adversary, or disclosed in a
      manner which significantly increases the likelihood that an
      adversary or anticipated adversary will obtain it. . . .

      . . . We recognize that a fact intensive analysis is required to
      determine whether [a disclosure of a document to a third-party]
      significantly increased the likelihood that an adversary or potential
      adversary would obtain it. Courts tasked with analyzing similar
      factual situations generally consider whether the disclosure was
      inconsistent with the maintenance of secrecy from the disclosing
      party’s adversary. In evaluating the maintenance of secrecy
      standard, a lower court should consider whether a reasonable
      basis exists for the disclosing party to believe that the
      recipient would keep the disclosed material confidential.

      The level of confidentiality, however, should not be conflated with
      the heightened level of confidentiality required under the
      attorney-client privilege. Indeed, while the mere showing of a
      voluntary disclosure to a third person will generally suffice to show
      waiver of the attorney-client privilege, it should not suffice in itself
      for waiver of the work product privilege. . . .

         There are some cases that suggest that any disclosure of a
         document to a third person waives the work-product
         immunity to which it would otherwise be entitled. Decisions
         to this effect confuse the work-product immunity with the
         attorney-client privilege. The attorney-client privilege has

                                      - 15 -
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         its basis in the confidential nature of the communication and
         the reason for the privilege ordinarily ceases to exist if
         confidentiality is destroyed by voluntary disclosure to a third
         person. But the purpose of the work-product rule is not to
         protect the evidence from disclosure to the outside world
         but rather to protect it only from the knowledge of opposing
         counsel and his client, thereby preventing its use against
         the lawyer gathering the materials.

      Attorney work product need be kept confidential only from the
      adversary.

BouSamra, 210 A.3d at 978-79 (internal citations, quotations, and brackets

omitted) (emphases added).

      Appellants contend that the trial court erred in its application of

BouSamra’s maintenance of secrecy standard.          They claim the trial court

failed to engage in a fact-specific inquiry to determine whether their

disclosures to the SEC provided information to an adversary or significantly

increased the likelihood that an adversary or potential adversary would obtain

the documents or information.      They emphasize that the SEC was not an

adversary because the SEC’s request for information was part of an informal,

non-public inquiry, rather than a formal investigation of wrongdoing.

Furthermore, they assert that all circumstances surrounding their disclosures

to the SEC established that they reasonably believed the documents would

remain confidential and would not be disclosed to other potential adversaries.

Toll argues: (1) it selectively disclosed the documents to the SEC to further a

shared common purpose of ensuring Toll’s compliance with its public

disclosure   requirements;   (2)   Attorney   Hansen    had   reached      an   oral

confidentiality agreement with the SEC; and (3) the denial of Appellees’ FOIA

                                     - 16 -
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request bolsters Toll’s belief that the SEC would keep the documents

confidential.12     Appellants also contend that compelling disclosure of

documents which a company previously disclosed during an informal

governmental inquiry would chill companies’ willingness to cooperate with

government inquiries.

       The trial court, in finding that Toll’s disclosure to the SEC constituted

waiver, extensively discussed Westinghouse Elec. Corp. v. Republic of

Philippines, 951 F.2d 1414 (3d Cir. 1991) (“Westinghouse”), which held,
____________________________________________

12 Appellants raise a host of legal arguments in support of their claim that the

SEC was not an adversary and that they reasonably believed that their
response to the SEC would remain confidential. See Appellants’ Brief at 16
(citing United States District Court cases). For example, Appellants contend
that Pennsylvania law recognizes selective waiver. See id. at 40 (citing
Commonwealth v. Sandusky, 70 A.3d 886, 898-99 (Pa. Super. 2013)
(upholding a trial court’s protective order requiring defense counsel to disclose
information to the trial judge and a supervising judge of a grand jury despite
counsel’s claim that the information was his work product); Bagwell v.
Pennsylvania Dep’t of Educ., 103 A.3d 409, 419 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2014)
(stating that “Pennsylvania courts recognize selective waiver in the context of
work product”). Selective waiver is a broad label that includes issues, as in
Bagwell, when a party partially discloses some, but not all, protected
information concerning the same subject matter, or where, as here, a party
selectively discloses work-product to a court or party without waiving its right
to protect the information as to other parties. In addition to selective waiver,
Appellants suggest the application the common-interest doctrine, which
permits parties sharing a common legal interest in litigation to share work-
product. See In re Doe, 662 F.2d 1073, 1081 (4th Cir. 1981) (noting the
general rule that a disclosure to a person with an interest common to that of
the attorney or the client will not constitute waiver of work-product
protection). However, the cases cited by Appellants with respect to selective
waiver are not binding or persuasive; alternatively, the relevance of the cases
cannot be determined based on the factual record in this case. Therefore, we
discern no basis to decide whether the SEC was or was not an adversary as a
matter of law based on the legal authority cited by Appellants.

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in part, that Westinghouse’s voluntary disclosures of information to federal

agencies investigating possible bribes resulted in the waiver of work-product

protection.13 The trial court concluded that similar to Westinghouse, Toll did

not have a reasonable basis to believe that the documents it disclosed to the

SEC would remain confidential because the SEC was Toll’s adversary and Toll

voluntarily disclosed documents during the SEC inquiry.

       Following our review, we conclude that the record is insufficient to

determine whether, as a matter of law, Toll waived all possible protections

when it disclosed documents to the SEC. Westinghouse, like Sporck, is a

Third Circuit Court of Appeals decision that is not binding on this Court.   See

____________________________________________

13 In Westinghouse, Westinghouse contracted to build a power plant in the

Philippines, after which the press reported allegations that Westinghouse had
used a local representative to pay bribes. See Westinghouse, 951 F.2d at
1418. The SEC commenced an investigation into possible violations of United
States securities law. See id. Westinghouse hired outside counsel to conduct
an internal investigation, which resulted in the preparation of two reports.
See id. Westinghouse showed one report to SEC investigators and shared
the findings of the internal investigation. See id. Although the SEC
subsequently discontinued its investigation, the United States Department of
Justice (“DOJ”) opened a separate investigation into Westinghouse and
Westinghouse entered into a confidentiality agreement with the DOJ to
disclose the reports of the internal investigations and other documents. See
id. at 1419. The Westinghouse Court concluded that Westinghouse waived
any work-product protection in the documents and information disclosed to
the government agencies. The Court reasoned that the SEC and the DOJ were
adversaries, refused to apply selective governmental disclosure because it
would not further the purposes of work-product protection, and found that the
governmental agencies did not agree to keep the documents confidential and
that even had an agreement been in place, the disclosures to the two
adversarial government agencies evidenced Westinghouse’s disregard for
secrecy and the possibility of disclosure to other parties. See id. at 1428-31.

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Carbis Walker, 930 A.2d at 581 & n.9, 583 & n.16. Moreover, our review of

BouSamra        and     Westinghouse           constrains   us   to   conclude   that

Westinghouse is not dispositive of the question of waiver, particularly as it

relates to possible work-product protections contained in Toll’s documents.

BouSamra dictates a fact-intensive inquiry. See BouSamra, 210 A.3d at

978-79.    Although Westinghouse applied a similar standard, the present

appeal presents us with critical differences and gaps in the record.14 Here,

unlike Westinghouse, the record does not establish that the SEC inquiry of

Toll escalated to a formal investigation of wrongdoing by Toll.15 Toll has set

forth colorable, albeit generalized claims that it and the SEC were not

adversaries; however, aside from five letters memorializing SEC inquires and

____________________________________________

14 The Westinghouse Court, at times, also suggested a possible equivalency

of the waiver of the attorney-client privilege and work-product protection.
See Westinghouse 951 F.2d at 1429 (noting that the standards for waiving
work-product protection “should be no more stringent” than the waiver of the
attorney-client privilege”), 1430 (noting that the Court’s discussion of partial
and selective disclosures as to the attorney-client privilege applied equally to
in the context of work-product protection). As noted above, our Supreme
Court has cautioned against conflating the standards for waiving work-product
protection and the attorney-client privilege. See BouSamra, 210 A.3d at
978-79.

15 We note that the SEC may issue a formal order of investigation for its staff

to use compulsory process to investigate the likelihood that a violation of
securities law occurred. See Treatise on the Law of Securities Regulation, 6
Law Sec. Reg. § 16:23 (noting that the SEC may authorize a formal
investigation when it believes that there is a likelihood of a violation and that
the SEC’s issuance of a formal order of investigation gives SEC staff subpoena
powers). The present record does not establish whether the SEC’s Division of
Enforcement issued its fact-finding request to Toll based on a likelihood of
wrongdoing or whether a formal order of investigation had issued.

                                          - 19 -
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Toll’s responses in 2016 and 2017, only one of which is included in the certified

record, there is little basis to determine the precise nature of the SEC’s inquiry,

or inquiries, the relationship between the 2016 and 2017 inquiries, or

conclude, as a matter of law, that SEC was in fact Toll’s adversary or would

likely become an adversary. Moreover, there is no evidence concerning the

specific terms of the confidentiality agreement referred to in Attorney

Hansen’s affidavit. Absent additional factual development and findings by the

trial court on these issues, we cannot determine whether Toll’s disclosures to

the SEC should result in waiver as a matter of law.16 Accordingly, we are

constrained to vacate the trial court’s order to the extent the court concluded

that Appellants’ disclosure of documents waived all evidentiary privileges or

protections as to Appellees’ request for the documents.

       In their second and final issue, Appellants assert that Appellees

improperly     sought     protected     information   through   Attorney   Hansen’s

deposition. Appellants further contend that the trial court erred in requiring

her to produce documents related to the SEC inquiry, when the trial court

should have ordered Toll to produce the documents.

       As to Appellants’ arguments that Appellees’ request to depose Attorney

Hansen was improper, we note that Appellants simply extend their claim that
____________________________________________

16 We acknowledge that the trial court attempted to resolve this issue as a

matter of law based on the case law submitted to it by the parties. See Trial
Court Opinion, 6/4/22, at 9-15. Because further development of the record is
necessary, we offer no opinion on the trial court’s legal reasoning in this regard
or its conclusion that Toll’s disclosures to the SEC should result in waiver of
all evidentiary privileges.

                                          - 20 -
J-A28031-22

Toll’s responses to the SEC inquiry were confidential such that any questioning

of Attorney Hansen would compel her to testify about confidential or protected

materials and violate her professional responsibilities to Toll as its former

counsel. As set forth above, Appellants have focused in this appeal on the

“compilation theory” of Attorney Hansen’s work product, which we conclude

does not apply based on the circumstances giving rise to this appeal.

Moreover, as noted above, further development of the record as to the nature

of the SEC inquiry and the alleged oral confidentiality agreement between Toll

and the SEC is required before deciding the issue of waiver.

      Here, Toll proffered Attorney Hansen’s averments as support for its

claims of privilege, and we agree with Appellees that under the circumstances

of this case, Appellants placed Attorney Hansen’s understanding of the SEC

inquiry and the facts related to the asserted confidentiality agreement

squarely at issue in this discovery dispute. Cf. Carlino, 260 A.3d at 201-02,

204 (discussing waiver of privileges and protections by placing matters at

issue and noting that “[t]he scope of waiver of privileged material must be

determined by the extent to which the privileged material has been placed in

issue”). Appellants cannot now refuse the deposition of Attorney Hansen or

challenge the requirement that she testify and produce documents relevant to

the nature of the SEC inquiry and their asserted beliefs that their disclosures

to the SEC would remain confidential, including the terms of the asserted

confidentiality agreement. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s order to the

                                     - 21 -
J-A28031-22

extent that it required the deposition of Attorney Hansen on these issues. See

Order, 1/10/22, at ¶ 1.

       Appellants also assert that Toll, not Attorney Hansen, should be

compelled to produce documents at Attorney Hansen’s deposition. However,

our decision to vacate the trial court’s ruling that Appellants waived any

evidentiary privileges or protections renders this issue moot in this appeal.17

See id. at ¶ 2.

       In sum, we reject Appellants’ reliance on the “compilation theory” as a

basis for applying work-product protection and discern no error in the trial

court’s order compelling Attorney Hansen to appear for a deposition.

However, we conclude that the record requires further development for the

trial court to consider whether Toll waived all privileges or protections based

on the record before it. Thus, we affirm the order in part and vacate in part

and remand this matter for further proceedings.

       We do not constrain the trial court’s discretion to conduct the remaining

discovery in an expeditious manner.            To the extent Toll intends to raise

additional claims of privileges or protections contained in any specific

document, we leave it to the sound discretion of the trial court to determine

the appropriate method and time to allow Toll to raise those claims, to decide

the further issues that may be raised in those claims, and to determine on a

fuller record, whether Toll’s disclosures to the SEC constituted waiver.
____________________________________________

17 In any event, the trial court later clarified that it intended for Toll to disclose

the documents. See Trial Court Opinion, 6/24/22, at 4, n.1.

                                          - 22 -
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      Order affirmed in part and vacated in part. Case remanded. Jurisdiction

relinquished.

Judgment Entered.

Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary

Date: 9/06/2023

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