Limits On Deposition Consultation With Witness

A holding from the Nevada Supreme Court

We hold that attorneys may confer with witnesses during requested recesses in depositions only to determine whether to assert a privilege. For the attorney-client privilege to apply to these conferences, however, counsel must state on the deposition record (1) the fact that a conference took place, (2) the subject of the conference, and (3) the result of the conference. In the instant case, we conclude that the communications between the witness and plaintiffs counsel during the break in the witness’s deposition are discoverable because plaintiffs counsel requested the recess in the deposition and failed to make a sufficient, contemporaneous record of the privileged communications.

There seems to be a problem with the link.

The case is Coyote Springs Inv. v. Eighth Judicial District Court, decided today. (Mike Frisch)