City resident filed putative class action lawsuit against city, alleging that city’s telephone users tax was an illegal tax and seeking a refund of the tax. The Superior Court granted city’s motion to strike resident’s class action allegations, and resident appealed. The Court of Appeal affirmed. The Supreme Court granted review, superseding the opinion of the Court of Appeal, and reversed and remanded.
City moved to compel resident to return privileged documents city turned over to his counsel pursuant to a Public Records Act (PRA) request and to disqualify his counsel. The Superior Court denied the motion. City appealed, and the Court of Appeal affirmed. The Supreme Court granted review, superseding the opinion of the Court of Appeal.
The Supreme Court of California held that City’s inadvertent disclosure of documents in response to Public Records Act request did not waive attorney-client and work product privileges covering the documents.