Tomahawk Manufacturing, Inc., et al. v. Spherical Industries, Inc., et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of Nevada denies defendants’ motion to seal an email containing communications from former counsel to defendants. The court holds that forwarding the privileged email to the courtroom deputy voluntarily disclosed it to a third party and waived attorney-client privilege. The court orders that the document remain sealed temporarily to allow defendants to seek relief from the Ninth Circuit.

Holdings

1. The email from defendants' former counsel to Duggan and Hardy, which provided legal advice concerning counsel's withdrawal and the defendants' next steps, was attorney-client privileged material.
2. The defendants waived the attorney-client privilege by voluntarily forwarding the privileged email to a third party outside the attorney-client relationship.
3. The defendants' motion to seal ECF No. 157 was denied because the voluntary disclosure waived the attorney-client privilege.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the forwarded email was protected by the attorney-client privilege.
2. Whether Duggan waived the attorney-client privilege by voluntarily forwarding the email to the court's courtroom deputy for transmission to the judge.
3. Whether the email should remain sealed after the court determined that the privilege had been waived.

Disposition

other