Mitchell v. Superior Court, 37 Cal. 3d 591

This was a unanimous opinion of the California Supreme Court:

“…Furthermore, to permit discovery of the attorney-client communications in this instance raises an equally troubling concern. Such a holding would potentially uphold a harassment tactic whereby defendants such as these are able to shift the focus of the case from damages caused by chemical pollutants to damages caused by allegedly inflammatory or false information provided by self-serving attorneys. Although real parties here do not explicitly impugn the motives of plaintiff's lawyers, the implications of their arguments are unmistakably clear. In other similar cases, defendant chemical manufacturers have contended that plaintiffs' injuries were caused not by exposure to toxic chemicals but rather by hysteria induced by plaintiffs' doctors. Once again, this technique not only obfuscates many of the substantive issues in a case but also frequently places the wrong "defendant" on trial. Quite simply, such tactics should not be tolerated in the courts of this state.

After weighing the various legal and policy arguments propounded by the parties, we are persuaded that to permit discovery of the confidential communications here would constitute an unwarranted abrogation of the attorney-client privilege -- a privilege which is fundamental to the free and open exchange of information and advice between lawyers and their clients, and more broadly to the proper functioning of our judicial system. We thus conclude that the information sought by defendant real parties, with the limited exception of Questions 4 and 5 as discussed above, is covered by the attorney-client privilege and that no waiver of that privilege has occurred. Let a writ of mandate issue, ordering respondent superior court to vacate its order compelling discovery.” (December 20, 1984) Mitchell v. Superior Court, 37 Cal. 3d 591, Page 610, Para 4, L 1 – 5, Page 611, Para 1