This short Order has a valuable nugget on the discoverability of communications between lawyers and their expert witnesses.

One of the Defendants moved to compel discovery from the Plaintiff to obtain documents exchanged between the Plaintiff’s lawyers and their expert. 

The expert, however, was also the President of the client and the central fact witness.  Plaintiff resisted production on the grounds of attorney-client privilege. 

It made no difference to the Court that the expert was also the client.  It held:

"Plaintiff’s assertion of the attorney client privilege to shield discovery of any communications with counsel involving his expert opinions is misplaced. Expert witnesses are subject to specific rules of discovery under the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure. N.C.R. Civ. P. Rule 26(b). Generally, the facts known to and the opinions held by an expert are discoverable as well as the materials the expert relied upon in coming to his or her opinion. See id. at Rule 26(b)(4), 26(b)(1). If [the expert’s] opinions are based upon any information supplied to him by counsel that information is discoverable and Plaintiff is required to make disclosures of that information."

There are no cases cited in the Court’s Order, but Defendant’s Brief contains references to a number of cases on the issue of discovery of communications between attorneys and their expert witnesses.

The earlier post on this case, Azalea Garden Board & Care v. Vanhoy, involved an issue of discoverability of settlement agreements.