GUILLERMO DEL PRADO, APPELLANT,
v.
ROBERT K. ESTES, P.A., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, AND ROBERT K. ESTES, APPELLEES
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
In a legal malpractice action, the court reversed summary judgment for the defendant attorney because he could not assert attorney-client privilege or work product doctrine to withhold his case file regarding the plaintiff's workers' compensation claim.
An attorney cannot assert attorney-client privilege or work product protection against a former client to withhold documents created or acquired regarding that client's matter.
[1] An attorney cannot assert attorney-client privilege or work product protection against a former client to withhold documents and case files relating to that client's lega…
Previewing 1 of 1 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePlaintiff Del Prado sued his former attorney Estes for legal malpractice arising from Estes's alleged failure to timely pursue a workers' compensation…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Motion To Compel Discovery cases and more on FLexlaw
PER CURIAM.
In this legal malpractice action arising out of the defendants’ (Estes and his professional association) alleged failure to pursue timely a worker’s compensation action on the plaintiffs behalf, the plaintiff requested the defendants to produce
“[t]he entire case file, along with any and all pleadings, materials acquired from or on behalf of the plaintiff, any legal or factual research, notes, memoranda, or correspondence, etc. created or acquired by the defendants regarding plaintiffs Workers’ Compensation Claim No. [ XXX XX XXXX ], arising out of injuries sustained on or about June 18, 1976.”
The defendants responded by asserting that “the request is so broad, vague and ambiguous as to require production of work product and waiver of the attorney/client privilege between Defendants herein and their counsel.” However, as the defendants concede, there was absolutely no basis to claim any privilege against the former client in respect to papers created or acquired by the defendants regarding the former client’s worker’s compensation claim. Thus, there was no basis for the trial court to enter a summary judgment for the defendants while the plaintiff’s motion to compel the production of such papers from the recalcitrant defendants was still pending. Accordingly, the summary judgment is reversed and the cause remanded for further proceedings.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
P & L Fla. Inv., Inc. v. Ferro, 545 So. 2d 448 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989)…ry had been entered by the court, and there was no evidence to support a finding of bad faith, willful disregard or gross indifference to the court’s order, dismissal of the case was too severe a sanction for the violation. De Trujillo v. Dominguez, 532 So. 2d 1101 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988); Beauchamp v. Collins, 500 So. 2d 294 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986), rev. denied, 511 So. 2d 297 (Fla.1987). Furthermore, we disapprove of the action of appellee’s Miami counsel of mailing notice to opposing counsel in West Palm Beach on W…
-
Claudet Benton v. The Travelers Ins. Co., 585 So. 2d 434 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991)…gainst the estate’s attorney was not justified. Our reversal is, of course, without prejudice to other proceedings to join the beneficiary or secure her appearance, or for other discovery proceedings against the estate. Cf. De Trujillo v. Dominquez, 532 So. 2d 1101 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988). [*435] ANSTEAD and DELL, JJ., concur. GUNTHER, J., dissents without opinion.…
-
Garcia v. Humana Med. Plan, Inc., 769 So. 2d 1137 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000)…them. Upon the appellee’s concession, and our agreement that the summary judgment was prematurely entered, see Crespo v. Florida Entertainment Direct Support Organization, Inc., 674 So. 2d 154 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996); Del Prado v. Robert K. Estes, P.A., 532 So. 2d 1101 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988); Cullen v. Big Daddy’s Lounges, Inc., 364 So. 2d 839 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978), it is reversed for further proceedings.…