Abstract
This Comment will analyze the tobacco companies' use of the privilege doctrines to avoid litigation over the past thirty years, specifically focusing on the last fifteen years of litigation between this industry and its accusers. Part II of this Comment will discuss the pertinent discovery rules and the manner in which they are abused. Part III will examine the development, scope and limitations of the attorney-client privilege and work product doctrines, considering with particularity the corporate context and the applicability of the crime-fraud exception to these doctrines. Part IV will review the case law of the tobacco litigation, focusing on the use and abuse of the attorney-client privilege and work product doctrine. Part V of this Comment will analyze the abuse of the privileges by the tobacco industry lawyers as a means to evade disclosure during discovery. Part VI will conclude that this type of abuse is prevalent, but very much at the mercy of the courts.
Recommended Citation
Christine Hatfield, The Privilege Doctrines--Are They Just Another Discovery Tool Utilized by the Tobacco Industry to Conceal Damaging Information?, 16 Pace L. Rev. 525 (1996)DOI: https://doi.org/10.58948/2331-3528.1978
Available at: https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/plr/vol16/iss3/5
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Business Organizations Law Commons, Evidence Commons, Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Commons