Plaintiff in trip and fall action required to answer questions and produce information regarding existence of referral relationship between her attorneys and her treating providers, as the information is not protected by the attorney-client privilege

A trip-and-fall plaintiff petitioned the court for a writ of certiorari regarding the trial court’s order that required her to produce information regarding the referral relationships between her treating physicians and her attorneys. The court denied the petition because she did not show irreparable harm or a departure from the essential requirements of the law. Specifically, the court ruled that information regarding the referral relationship was highly relevant and not protected by the attorney-client privilege. The information should first be sought from the party, the treating doctor or other witnesses, and as other witnesses had no knowledge of the relationship, the defendant had no choice but to ask the plaintiff. A conflict was certified with Burt v. Government Employees Insurance Co., 603 So.2d 125 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992) to the extent it held that disclosure of a client referral by an attorney to a health care provider was always protected by the attorney-client privilege.

_{Case Law Alerts, 3rd Quarter, July 2015}

_{Case Law Alerts is prepared by Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin to provide information on recent legal developments of interest to our readers. This publication is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. Copyright © 2015 Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin, all rights reserved. This article may not be reprinted without the express written permission of our firm.}