The attorney-client privilege protects communications between clients and their lawyers, not historical facts. Some courts misunderstand the real-world application of this basic principle, but other courts get it right.
In Canarelli v. Eighth Judicial District Court, 464 P.3d 114 (Nev. 2020), the court analyzed two aspects of the privilege. First, the court held that the attorney-client privilege can protect clients’ notes even if the client did not physically deliver those notes to her lawyer – as long as the notes reflect what the client and the lawyer later discussed. Additionally, “we emphasize that the party asserting the privilege does not have to prove that the client spoke each and every word written in his or her notes to counsel verbatim.” Id. at 120-21. Second, and perhaps more importantly, the court held that the lower court had “clearly abused its discretion to the extent it found that...
