Carlino East v. Brandywine Village Assoc. ( 2023 )

J-A10032-23
2023 PA Super 141CARLINO EAST BRANDYWINE, L.P. : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
: PENNSYLVANIA
:
v. :
:
:
BRANDYWINE VILLAGE :
ASSOCIATES, JOHN R. CROPPER, :
INDIVIDUALLY AND AS GENERAL : No. 2030 EDA 2022
PARTNER OF BRANDYWINE VILLAGE :
ASSOCIATION, L & R PARTNERSHIP, :
RICHARD J. BLAIR, INDVIDUALLY :
AND AS GENERAL PARTNER OF L & R :
PARTNERSHIP, LEONARD G. BLAIR, :
INDVIDUALLY AND AS GENERAL :
PARTNER OF L & R PARTNERSHIP, :
PAUL PRINCE, ESQ., PRINCE AND :
KURTAS, EUGENE ORLANDO, ESQ., :
ORLANDO LAW OFFICES, P.C. :
:
:
THE GIANT COMPANY LLC :
:
v. :
:
BRANDYWINE VILLAGE :
ASSOCIATES, LLP, JOHN R. :
CROPPER, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS :
GENERAL PARTNER OF BRANDYWINE :
VILLAGE ASSOCIATION, L & R :
PARTNERSHIP, LLC :
:
:
APPEAL OF: BRANDYWINE VILLAGE :
ASSOCIATES, JOHN R. CROPPER, :
INDIVIDUALLY AND AS GENERAL :
PARTNER OF BRANDYWINE VILLAGE :
ASSOCIATION, L & R PARTNERSHIP, :
RICHARD J. BLAIR, INDVIDUALLY :
AND AS GENERAL PARTNER OF L & R :
PARTNERSHIP, LEONARD G. BLAIR, :
INDVIDUALLY AND AS GENERAL :
PARTNER OF L & R PARTNERSHIP, :
:
J-A10032-23
PAUL PRINCE, ESQ., PRINCE AND :
KURTAS
Appeal from the Order Entered July 25, 2022
In the Court of Common Pleas of Chester County Civil Division at No(s):
2015-02938-TT,
2020-07118-TT
BEFORE: PANELLA, P.J., KING, J., and STEVENS, P.J.E.*
OPINION BY STEVENS, P.J.E.: FILED JULY 28, 2023
Brandywine Village Associates, LLP (BVA), John R. Cropper (“Cropper”),
L&R Partnership (“L&R”), Richard J. Blair (“R. Blair”), Leonard G. Blair (“L.
Blair”) (collectively “the BVA Defendants”),1 Paul Prince, Esq. (“Attorney
Prince”), and the law firm of Prince and Kurtas (all collectively “Appellants”)
appeal from the discovery order of the Court of Common Pleas of Chester
County requiring the production of attorney-client communications and
attorney work product documents in an action brought by Carlino East
Brandywine, L.P. (“Carlino”) against Appellants.2
The order at issue in this appeal was entered following this Court’s ruling
in Carlino East Brandywine, L.P. v. Brandywine Village Associates, 260
A.3d 179 (Pa.Super. 2021), which vacated the trial court’s prior order
____________________________________________
* Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court.
1 As set forth in the caption, Carlino sued Cropper individually and in his
capacity as general partner of BVA. Similarly, Carlino sued R. Blair and L. Blair,
individually and as general partners of L&R, which is a Pennsylvania general
partnership and general partner of BVA.
2 There are two cases in the caption in this appeal because on May 16, 2022,
the trial court consolidated Carlino’s action with an action that The Giant
Company LLC filed in 2020 against BVA and its partners. The instant appeal,
however, was filed only in Carlino’s action, as the July 25, 2022 order at issue
was entered in Carlino’s action only and not in the consolidated case.
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requiring the BVA Defendants and Attorney Prince to produce attorney-client
communications and attorney work product documents.
This action arises out of the BVA Defendants’ opposition to Carlino’s
attempts to develop a shopping center. BVA is the owner of an existing
shopping center that contains multiple businesses including a grocery store.
BVA’s shopping center is located on Route 322 in East Brandywine Township,
Chester County. Id. at 185-86. BVA acquired the land on which it constructed
the shopping center in 1994 from parties who also owned an adjoining parcel;
BVA entered into an agreement with those parties to grant and convey cross-
easements to facilitate the development of both the land that BVA acquired
and the adjoining parcel (the easement agreement). Id.Carlino subsequently entered a contract to purchase the adjoining parcel
pending certain governmental approvals of its development plans and became
the equitable owner of the adjoining parcel.3 Id. Since 2010, Carlino has
attempted to develop that parcel as a shopping center with a Giant grocery
store and the BVA Defendants have actively opposed Carlino’s efforts to obtain
the necessary government approvals for its shopping center. Id.On April 6, 2015, Carlino filed a complaint against the BVA Defendants
and Attorney Prince, who had represented BVA in its actions opposing Carlino’s
development. In this complaint, Carlino asserted claims against the BVA
____________________________________________
3 Carlino alleges that it completed the purchase in February 2021 and is now
the legal owner of the adjoining parcel. While the certified record does not
contain any documentation supporting this claim, this factual distinction does
not have any effect on our ruling in this decision.
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Defendants for breach of contract (for an alleged breach of the easement
agreement) as well as tortious interference with contract and prospective
business relations. Carlino also raised a claim of abuse of process against the
BVA Defendants and Attorney Prince.
Following a court order sustaining preliminary objections to the
complaint in part, Carlino filed an amended complaint on January 22, 2016.
The BVA Defendants and Attorney Prince filed a joint answer and new matter,
in which the BVA Defendants asserted that they acted in good faith reliance
on the advice of counsel or in good faith after consulting counsel based on the
advice of counsel. Amended Answer and New Matter, 3/21/16, at ¶¶ 47, 49-
52, 54, 219. Attorney Prince asserted that his actions were good faith
advocacy based on his understanding of the law and application of the law to
the facts. Id. at ¶¶ 47, 49-52, 57, 125, 127, 205, 217, 238.
On December 14, 2016, Carlino served a set of 48 requests for
production of documents that specifically requested that the BVA Defendants
and Attorney Prince produce all documents “constituting, referring or relating
to all communications and documents exchanged between you [defined as
any of the defendants] and/or Attorney Prince” concerning various subjects.
In addition, Carlino requested documents concerning Attorney Prince’s
investigation and analysis of certain issues. Carlino’s Document Requests, No.
1, 10, 11, 13, 15-17, 20-24, 26-28, 31, 36, 38. The BVA Defendants and
Attorney Prince objected to producing these documents based on grounds of
attorney-client privilege and attorney work product protection.
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After Carlino moved to compel the BVA Defendants and Attorney Prince
to produce the documents, on April 11, 2019, the trial court ordered
production of all attorney-client privileged and attorney work product
documents “regarding Defendants’ efforts to prevent and delay the
development of [Carlino’s] property.” Trial Court Order, 4/11/19.
The trial court reasoned that the BVA Defendants and Attorney Prince
waived attorney-client privilege and attorney work product protection by
failing to produce a privilege log. In addition, the trial court found the BVA
Defendants had waived both the attorney-client privilege and attorney work
product protection when they asserted reliance on advice of counsel as a
defense. Id. at 1; Trial Court Opinion (T.C.O.), 7/15/19, at 12-17.
The BVA Defendants and Attorney Prince appealed and on July 23, 2021,
this Court vacated the trial court’s April 11, 2019 order. Carlino East
Brandywine, L.P., 260 A.3d at 198-202. As an initial matter, this Court held
that the trial court erred in holding that the failure to produce a privilege log
waived the BVA Defendants’ and Attorney Prince’s right to assert attorney-
client privilege and attorney work product protection. Id. at 198-99.
This Court affirmed the trial court’s ruling that the BVA Defendants had
waived attorney-client privilege with respect to all communications relevant
to their defense based on their reliance on the advice of counsel. Id. at 203-
205. Nevertheless, this Court concluded that the trial court erred in ordering
blanket production of privileged documents without examining the documents
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to determine whether they were placed in issue by the advice of counsel
defense. Id. at 203-205.
In contrast, this Court held that BVA’s advice of counsel defense did not
constitute a waiver of attorney work product. While this Court held that the
trial court erred in ordering production of attorney work product on that basis,
this Court did not specifically decide whether Attorney Prince had waived work
product protection by asserting that his actions were good faith advocacy, as
this issue was not before the Court. Id. at 196, 207, and n. 18.
As such, this Court remanded the case, directing the trial court to order
production of a privilege log and to determine which privileged documents
were within the scope of the attorney-client privilege waiver, including
conducting in camera review of the documents, if necessary. Id. at 207-208.
While the appeal from the trial court’s April 11, 2019 order was pending,
the trial court permitted Carlino to file a second amended complaint, in which
Carlino made additional allegations involving events subsequent to its first
amended complaint. The second amended complaint also added three new
defendants including Attorney Prince’s law firm, Prince and Kurtas (together
with Attorney Prince, the “Prince Defendants”) as well as Attorney Eugene
Orlando and his law firm (the “Orlando defendants”), who had previously
represented the BVA Defendants and Attorney Prince in this case, but had
withdrawn as counsel prior to the April 2019 order and appeal.
In the second amended complaint, Carlino asserted the same breach of
contract claim against the BVA Defendants and asserted claims for tortious
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interference with contract and prospective business relations as well as abuse
of process against the BVA Defendants, the Prince Defendants, and the
Orlando Defendants. Carlino also added a claim for wrongful use of civil
proceedings against the BVA Defendants and the Prince Defendants.
Appellants (the BVA Defendants and Prince Defendants) filed a joint
answer and new matter to Carlino’s second amended complaint, in which the
BVA Defendants did not specifically allege reliance on advice of counsel, but
continued to plead as a defense that their actions were in good faith.
Appellants’ Answer and New Matter to Second Amended Complaint, ¶ 56-57,
59, 61-63, 69, 71, 189, 279, 287, 303-304, 308, 315, 321. In this answer
and new matter, the Prince Defendants pled that their actions were good faith
advocacy. Id. at ¶¶ 57-59, 61-63, 122, 69, 131, 133, 138, 180, 189, 191,
203-09, 303, 308, 315, 321, 348. The Orlando Defendants, represented by
separate counsel, filed a separate answer and new matter.
On August 3, 2021, the trial court, in accordance with this Court’s
decision vacating the April 11, 2019 order, ordered Appellants to prepare a
privilege log of all of the documents as to which they claimed attorney-client
privilege or attorney-work product protection. Trial Court Order, 8/3/21.
On August 16, 2021, Appellants filed a motion with the trial court
seeking reconsideration of that order on the ground that their answer and new
matter to the second amended complaint did not plead reliance on advice of
counsel. The trial court denied that motion on September 21, 2021, and
Appellants produced a 96-page privilege log.
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Following Carlino’s review of the privilege log and further production by
Appellants, the parties narrowed their dispute to 95 documents. On April 29,
2022, Carlino moved for in camera inspection of these documents. On May
26, 2022, the trial court directed Appellants to submit the 95 documents in
dispute, numbered 1-95 for in camera inspection.
With respect to the submitted documents, Appellants claimed attorney-
client privilege with respect to all of the documents in dispute and claimed
that 53 of those documents were also protected attorney work product. Letter
to Court & attached updated privilege log (the Privilege Log), 6/14/22.
We note that most of these documents are dated or were clearly created
subsequent to the commencement of this action and the filing of Carlino’s first
amended complaint. Many of these documents are attorney drafts of
documents filed by the BVA Defendants and Attorney Prince in this action. See
Privilege Log Entries for Privilege Log Documents 13, 18, 20, 23, 24, 39-54,
58, 71-85, 87-90, 94. In addition, a number of the documents as to which
Appellants asserted attorney work product protection were authored by
attorneys other than the Prince Defendants. See Privilege Log Entries for
Privilege Log Documents 54, 57, 63-66, 70, 74, 79-80.
On July 25, 2022, following in camera inspection of the documents, the
trial court entered an order requiring Appellants to produce 65 documents
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(Privilege Log Documents 13-15, 18-20, 23-24, 27-29, 37-85, 87-90, and 94).
Trial Court Opinion and Order, 7/25/22, at 2-3, 5-6.4
The trial court did not specifically discuss whether any of the documents
were protected by the attorney-client privilege or the work product doctrine.
Rather, the trial court held that attorney-client privilege was waived by the
BVA Defendants’ advice of counsel defense as to all documents that were
relevant to this action, without considering the date of the documents or their
relationship to decisions and actions of the BVA Defendants in the proceedings
on which Carlino’s claims in this action are based. Id. at 2-3 & n.2, 6 n.4.
With respect to those documents as to which attorney work product
protection was claimed, the trial court held that Attorney Prince’s assertions
in his answer to the second amended complaint that his actions were good
faith advocacy waived the attorney work product protection without
considering whether the documents were authored by the Prince Defendants.
Id. at 3-6 & n.4. This timely appeal followed.5
Appellants raise the following issues for our review on appeal:
1. Did BVA and Paul Prince, Esquire waive the attorney-client
privilege or attorney work product privilege even though they
did not assert reliance on counsel in their Answer to Carlino’s
Second Amended Complaint?
____________________________________________
4 The trial court noted that Appellants had voluntarily produced several
documents.
5 Subsequent to the appeal, the trial judge, the Honorable Edward Griffith,
passed away in January 2023.
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2. Did the Trial Court err by ordering the disclosure of privileged
communications and privileged materials prepared by, or
exchanged with, attorneys other than Paul Prince, Esquire?
3. Did the Trial Court err by ordering that Paul Prince, Esquire
disclose attorney work product?
4. Did the Trial Court err by ordering disclosure of privileged
communications and documents that are unrelated to the
substantive facts in the underlying litigation, pertain to active
litigation, and were not relied upon by BVA?
Appellants’ Brief, at 4.
As an initial matter, we note that jurisdiction is proper before this Court.
Although there is no final order here, this Court has appellate jurisdiction
because an order requiring disclosure of attorney-client privileged material
and attorney work product is an appealable collateral order under Pa.R.A.P.
313. Commonwealth v. Flor, 136 A.3d 150, 154-55 (Pa. 2016);
Commonwealth v. Harris, 32 A.3d 243, 248-51 (Pa. 2011); Carlino East
Brandywine, L.P., 260 A.3d at 194. Thus, we may proceed to review the
merits of Appellants’ claims.
Appellants challenge the trial court’s decision to compel them to produce
documents for which the trial court ruled that Appellants had waived attorney-
client privilege and work product protection. “In reviewing the propriety of a
discovery order, we determine whether the trial court committed an abuse of
discretion.” Tavella-Zirilli v. Ratner Companies, L.C., 266 A.3d 696, 700
(Pa.Super. 2021) (quoting Pasquini v. Fairmount Behavioral Health
System, 230 A.3d 1190, 1194 (Pa.Super. 2020)). “An abuse of discretion is
not merely an error of judgment, but if in reaching a conclusion the law is
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overridden or misapplied, or the judgment exercised is manifestly
unreasonable, or the result of partiality, prejudice, bias or ill-will as shown by
the evidence or the record, discretion is abused.” Commonwealth v.
Crispell, 193 A.3d 919, 939 (Pa. 2018).
First, Appellants argue that the trial court erred in finding that the
attorney-client privilege had been waived because the BVA Defendants did not
plead reliance on advice of counsel in their answer and new matter to the
second amended complaint. Appellants also argue in the alternative that, even
if the attorney-client privilege was waived, the trial court’s order requires them
to produce documents outside the scope of the waiver.
The attorney-client privilege protects from disclosure confidential
communications between a client and an attorney made for the purpose of
obtaining or providing professional legal advice and applies to both
communications from the client to the attorney and communications from the
attorney to the client. Gillard v. AIG Insurance Co., 15 A.3d 44, 59 (Pa.
2011); Newsuan v. Republic Services Inc., 213 A.3d 279, 284 (Pa.Super.
2019); Knopick v. Boyle, 189 A.3d 432, 440 (Pa.Super. 2018); Custom
Designs & Manufacturing Co. v. Sherwin-Williams Co., 39 A.3d 372, 376
(Pa.Super. 2012).
A party waives the attorney-client privilege by asserting a claim, defense
or argument that places the attorney’s communications or actions in issue or
attempts to prove a claim or defense by reference to privileged material.
Commonwealth v. Flor, 136 A.3d 150, 159-60 (Pa. 2016); Commonwealth
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v. Harris, 32 A.3d 243, 253 (Pa. 2011); Saint Luke’s Hospital of
Bethlehem v. Vivian, 99 A.3d 534, 549-52 (Pa.Super. 2014). Asserting
reliance on the advice of counsel as a defense waives the attorney-client
privilege with respect to communications with counsel that are placed in issue
by that defense. Carlino East Brandywine, L.P., 260 A.3d at 200-204.
Waiver based on placing attorney-client communications in issue is not
limited to situations where the party specifically pleads reliance on advice of
counsel or actually relies on privileged or protected documents and can also
be found based on a party’s affirmative assertion of its state of mind as a
defense or issue in the case where that state of mind could be based on
attorney advice or communications. See Birth Center v. St. Paul
Companies, Inc., 727 A.2d 1144, 1166 (Pa.Super. 1999), aff’d, 787 A.2d
376 (Pa. 2001), disapproved of on other issue by Mishoe v. Erie
Insurance Co., 824 A.2d 1153 (Pa. 2003) (attorney work product doctrine
waived as to documents concerning reasons for party’s act where party placed
its state of mind and reasons for that act in issue in its arguments at trial);
Livingstone v. North Belle Vernon Borough, 91 F.3d 515, 537 (3rd Cir.
1996) (claim by party represented by counsel in negotiation of agreement that
she did not understand agreement’s legal implications waived attorney-client
privilege as to communications concerning agreement); Doe v. Schuylkill
County Courthouse, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13889 (M.D.Pa. Magistrate Judge
January 17, 2023) (where good faith defense is asserted that could be based
on advice of counsel, attorney-client privilege is waived absent an affirmative
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commitment by the defendants that their good faith defense will not be based
on any reliance on counsel).
While Appellants argue that there is no waiver of the attorney-client
privilege because the BVA Defendants did not plead reliance on advice of
counsel in their answer and new matter to the second amended complaint,
the BVA Defendants still plead the same good faith defense that they
previously alleged was based on the advice of counsel. Those averments of
good faith are asserted in tandem with averments that their counsel’s actions
on same matters were good faith advocacy. BVA Defendants’ and Prince
Defendants’ Answer and New Matter to Second Amended Complaint, ¶¶ 56,
57, 59, 61-63, 69, 71, 189, 279, 287, 303-304, 308, 315, 321.
The BVA Defendants have still placed counsel’s advice at issue despite
the fact that they omitted the phrase “reliance on the advice of counsel” from
their answer and new matter to the second complaint. In their “new” answer,
the BVA Defendants claim that “all actions and proceedings filed, all
documents issued, and all steps taken by the Defendants at all times material
hereto, were based on proper and good faith facts, application of law to fact
and pursued for proper and lawful purposes.” Appellants’ Answer and New
Matter to Second Amended Complaint, Answer to [Carlino’s] Second Amended
Complaint with New Matter, ¶ 308. The BVA Defendants cannot circumvent
waiver by merely rewording their defense of good faith reliance on the advice
of counsel.
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In addition, the BVA Defendants have not filed anything indicating that
they will refrain from arguing or presenting evidence that their good faith was
based on advice of counsel. Appellant have failed to make an affirmative
commitment that they have not and will not assert claims that they acted
based on advice of counsel or that their actions were in good faith because
they were based on advice of or information received from counsel. See
Motion for Reconsideration ¶¶13-14; Appellants’ Brief at 19, 25, 35-37;
Appellants’ Reply Brief at 2-4. 6
Appellants also argue in the alternative that, even if the attorney-client
privilege was waived, the trial court’s order requires them to produce
documents outside the scope of the waiver. Where attorney-client privilege is
found waived, the order requiring disclosure must be limited to material as to
which the privilege has been waived and must not provide for production of
privileged material as to which there has been no waiver. Flor, 136 A.3d at
160-61; Harris, 32 A.3d at 253; Carlino East Brandywine, L.P., 260 A.3d
____________________________________________6 Carlino argues that the BVA Defendants are barred from withdrawing their
privilege waiver by law of the case and judicial estoppel. In light of the fact
that the BVA Defendants have waived the privilege by continuing to assert a
good faith defense without any affirmative representation that they will not
contend in any way that this good faith was based on any communications
from or advice of counsel, it is not necessary to review those arguments.
Moreover, ruling that the BVA Defendants are barred from withdrawing
their waiver would not eliminate the need to determine whether their current
answer waives the attorney-client privilege, as the scope of the waiver is
affected by whether there is a waiver of attorney-client privilege as to the new
claims in the second amended complaint. BVA Defendants’ assertions of
advice of counsel in the answer and new matter to the first amended complaint
do not plead anything with respect to those new claims.
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at 202-04. The assertion of a defense waives the attorney-client privilege only
as to privileged material that is placed in issue by the defense and the
privileged documents must be examined to determine whether they are within
the scope of the waiver. Carlino East Brandywine, L.P., 260 A.3d at 204-
205. This Court specifically held that:
The scope of waiver of privileged material must be determined by
the extent to which the privileged material has been placed in
issue. Because privilege waivers do not waive the attorney-client
privilege or work product doctrine as to all material counsel may
possess, our precedent requires an issue-specific analysis of
waiver.
Id. at 204.
In this case, the BVA Defendants’ good faith defenses placed in issue
only communications with counsel that could have affected their knowledge
and intent in taking the actions that they claim were in good faith.
Communications after the BVA Defendants’ actions on which Carlino’s claims
are based cannot have affected their knowledge or intent when they took
those actions and are therefore outside the scope of their waiver of attorney-
client privilege.
The trial court’s order here required production of communications with
counsel regardless of whether they were in existence at the time of the BVA
Defendants’ actions and regardless of whether they were communications
concerning only this litigation and not advice or communications concerning
future actions in the proceedings on which Carlino’s claims are based. As
Privilege Log Documents 47-48, 54, 65, 71-85, 87-90, and 94 are all
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documents created after Carlino’s second amended complaint was filed, they
were not in existence at the time that Appellants took any of actions on which
Carlino’s claims are based.7
In addition, communications that only relate to pleadings or strategy in
this action are not advice or communications with respect to Appellants’
decisions and actions in the other proceedings on which Carlino’s claims in this
action are based and are likewise outside the scope of the waiver of attorney-
client privilege. Privilege Log Documents 39-53 are all drafts of pleadings in
this action or communications concerning the defense of this action. All of
these documents are therefore outside the scope of the BVA Defendants’
waiver of attorney-client privilege and the trial court erred in ordering their
production.
The only other documents that Appellants assert are outside the scope
of the attorney-client privilege waiver are Privilege Log Documents 13, 18, 20,
59, and 60. The sole argument that Appellants make concerning these
documents is that their waiver of attorney-client privilege is allegedly limited
to communications with Attorney Prince and his firm and these documents are
outside that waiver because they are communications with other attorneys.
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7 It is unclear whether undated Privilege Log Document 62 was in existence
at the time that the BVA Defendants took any of actions on which Carlino’s
claims are based. Appellants, however, do not discuss this document in their
brief and have not supplied any information concerning its date or claimed
that it is outside the scope of the waiver of attorney-client privilege.
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That argument is without merit because the assertion of a defense
related to attorney advice or communications waives attorney-client privilege
as to communications that are placed in issue by the defense, not
communications with a particular lawyer or lawyers. Communications with any
lawyer prior to and concerning the BVA Defendants’ future decisions and
actions in the other proceedings on which Carlino’s claims in this action are
based are placed in issue by their good faith defense. The five documents in
question in fact relate to the other proceedings on which Carlino’s claims in
this action are based and appear to pre-date some of the actions for which
the BVA Defendants have been sued.
Carlino argues as an alternative ground for affirmance that privilege
claims were waived as to Privilege Log Documents 15, 80-81, 85, 87-92, and
94 by alleged disclosure of those documents to a third party. The trial court
made no determination that these or any of the other documents were
disclosed to a third party and the only support that Carlino cites for this
contention does not show that any of these documents were disclosed to a
third party. Thus, we cannot affirm the trial court’s ruling on this basis.
As a result, we reverse the trial court’s decision to order production of
Privilege Log Documents 39-54, 65, 71-85, 87-90, and 94, as such documents
outside the scope of Appellants’ waiver of attorney-client privilege.
Second, Appellants argue that the trial court erred in holding the Prince
Defendants’ defenses waived the work product protection of documents
authored by other attorneys. Appellants also claim the defense of good faith
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advocacy asserted by the Prince Defendants does not constitute a waiver of
work product protection even with respect to documents authored by them. 8
The attorney work product doctrine protects from discovery “the mental
impressions of a party’s attorney” and the attorney’s “conclusions, opinions,
memoranda, notes or summaries, legal research or legal theories.” Pa.R.C.P.
No. 4003.3; BouSamra v. Excela Health, 210 A.3d 967, 976 (Pa. 2019);
Carlino East Brandywine, L.P., 260 A.3d at 205-206; Brown v.
Greyhound Lines, Inc., 142 A.3d 1, 9-10 (Pa.Super. 2016); Saint Luke’s
Hospital of Bethlehem v. Vivian, 99 A.3d 534, 550-51 (Pa.Super. 2014).
This protection is not limited to materials prepared for or in anticipation of
litigation. BouSamra, 210 A.3d at 976 & n.6; Carlino East Brandywine,
L.P., 260 A.3d at 205; Estate of Paterno v. National Collegiate Athletic
Association (NCAA), 168 A.3d 187, 201 (Pa.Super. 2017).
“Work product protection ‘provid[es] a privileged area within which [an
attorney] can analyze and prepare [a] client’s case ... by enabling attorneys
to prepare cases without fear that their work product will be used against their
clients.’” BouSamra, 210 A.3d at 976-77 (brackets and ellipsis in original)
(quoting Barrick v. Holy Spirit Hospital of the Sisters of Christian
Charity, 32 A.3d 800, 812 (Pa.Super. 2011) (en banc), aff'd by an equally
divided court, 91 A.3d 680 (Pa. 2014)).
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8 The Orlando Defendants filed a brief in support of Appellants and the Court
denied Carlino’s motion to strike that brief.
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Under Pa.R.C.P. 4003.3, attorney work product is discoverable only
where the attorney’s mental impressions, opinions, or legal research or
theories are relevant to the action, and is not discoverable merely because
the subject matter of the documents is relevant. Carlino East Brandywine,
L.P., 260 A.3d at 206-07; Barrick, 32 A.3d at 812. Attorney work product
protection is waived by assertion of a claim or defense that places the
attorney’s state of mind in issue. Saint Luke’s Hospital of Bethlehem, 99
A.3d at 551-52; Birth Center, 727 A.2d at 1166.
Our review of the records leads us to find that Attorney Prince placed
his state of mind in issue. In his answer and new matter to Carlino’s second
amended complaint, Attorney Prince pled that his actions were good faith
advocacy and were based on application of his legal judgment to the facts.
BVA Defendants’ and Prince Defendants’ Answer and New Matter to Second
Amended Complaint ¶¶ 57-59, 61-63, 122, 69, 131, 133, 138, 180, 189, 191,
203-09, 303, 308, 315, 321, 348.9 Thus, we find that the trial court did not
err in finding that Attorney Prince waived attorney work product protection.
However, we agree with Appellants that Attorney Prince did not waive
attorney work product protection for other attorneys involved in this litigation.
Unlike the attorney-client privilege, the right to assert attorney work product
____________________________________________
9 While the issue of whether Attorney Prince had waived work product
protection was not before this Court in the parties’ previous appeal, this Court
stated that “[i]t may well be that Attorney Prince has waived work product
protection by the defenses asserted in Appellants’ jointly produced answer and
new matter.” Carlino East Brandywine, L.P., 260 A.3d at 207 & n.18.
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protection belongs to the attorney, not the client. BouSamra, 210 A.3d at
975; Carlino East Brandywine, L.P., 260 A.3d at 205, 207.
In its prior opinion in this case, this Court held that because the work
product protection belongs to the attorney whose conclusions, opinions,
memoranda, notes or summaries, legal research or legal theories are sought
in discovery, the client’s reliance on advice of counsel does not waive attorney
work product protection. Carlino East Brandywine, L.P., 260 A.3d at 207.
This Court further concluded in that opinion that “the inquiry as to whether
work product protection has been waived must look to counsel’s actions and
the manner in which counsel shared his work product.” Id.
Eleven of the documents as to which Appellants’ claimed work product
protection that the trial court ordered produced, Privilege Log Documents 54,
57, 63-66, 70, 74, and 79-80, were authored by attorneys other than Attorney
Prince and his law firm. It appears that, under this Court’s decision in the prior
appeal in this case, Attorney Prince’s defenses in this action cannot waive the
work product privilege as to these documents because they are not his work
product. Carlino East Brandywine, L.P., 260 A.3d at 207. The trial court did
not find that the attorneys who authored Privilege Log Documents 54, 57, 63-
66, 70, 74, and 79-80 have asserted a defense that waived their work product
protection or shared the documents in a way that waived the protection.
The only other documents as to which attorney-client privilege was
waived that Appellants assert are outside the scope of Attorney Prince’s work
product waiver are Privilege Log Documents 13, 18, 20, 59, and 60. While
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these documents were authored by attorneys other than Attorney Prince and
his firm, Appellants asserted only attorney-client privilege and did not assert
attorney work product in the Privilege Log as a ground for withholding Privilege
Log Documents 13, 18, 20, 59, and 60.
Accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s order directing Appellants to
produce privilege log documents 54, 57, 63-66, 70, 74, and 79-80 as
Appellants’ defenses did not waive these work product documents.
It is unnecessary to decide whether documents authored by Attorney
Prince or his firm subsequent to the actions that he alleges were good faith
advocacy are outside the scope of his waiver of work product protection
because Appellants also withheld those documents on attorney-client privilege
grounds. As discussed above, those subsequent documents are outside the
scope of the waiver of attorney-client privilege and are therefore protected
from discovery regardless of whether the work product protection has been
waived.
For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the trial court’s order in part with
respect to its finding that Appellants have waived the attorney-client privilege
and work product protection as a result of their defenses to Carlino’s second
amended complaint. However, we reverse the trial court’s order in part as to
documents which are outside the scope of Appellants’ waiver of the attorney-
client privilege and work product protection.
Order affirmed in part requiring Appellants to produce Privilege Log
Documents 13-15, 18-20, 23-24, 27-29, 37-38, 55-56, and 58-62. We
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reverse the trial court’s order with respect to Privilege Log Documents 39-54,
57, 63-66, 70-85, 87-90, and 94.
Jurisdiction relinquished.
Judgment Entered.
Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary
Date: 7/28/2023
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