Articles and Speeches
Mind The Gap In Rule 26(b)(3)
April 14, 2011
Matthew B. Lerner
, Mark R. Nash
As appeared in Law360
New York (April 13, 2011) -- The work product doctrine is an essential principle that protects an attorney's ability to serve his or her client. See Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U.S. 495, 510-11 (1947).
As the U.S. Supreme Court has stated, "[n]ot even the most liberal of discovery theories can justify unwarranted inquiries into the files and the mental impressions of an attorney." Id. at 510. This is because it is "essential that a lawyer work with a certain degree of privacy, free from unnecessary intrusion." Id. at 511.
