The “attorney-client privilege” may be the most well-known and misunderstood legal principles. Both attorneys and clients often make broad assumptions about its scope and application..
Previous Scope of Corporate Attorney-Client Privilege
More than thirty years ago, the Washington Supreme Court ruled defense counsel may not engage in ex parte communications with a plaintiff’s treating physician.
Loudon v. Mhyre, 110 Wn.2d 675, 676 (1988). The
Loudon rule, as it’s known, was revisited and tempered slightly in
Youngs v. PeaceHealth, when the court held defendant hospitals may have ex parte communications with employee-physicians who treated a plaintiff, as long as the communications “are limited to the facts of the alleged negligent event.” 179 Wn.2d 645, 671 (2014).
Recently, the court was asked to consider expanding its holding in
Youngs to allow ex parte communications between defendant hospitals and their