SQUIRE, SANDERS & DEMPSEY, L.L.P., APPELLANT, v. GIVAUDAN FLAVORS CORPORATION, APPELLEE., 127 Ohio St. 3d 161

Summary

The issue in the case was whether the common-law self-protection exception to the attorney-client privilege, permitting an attorney to reveal attorney-client communications when necessary to establish a claim or defense on the behalf of the attorney, applied as an exception to R.C. 2317.02(A), which provided that an attorney shall not testify concerning a communication made to the attorney by a client in that relation or the attorney's advice to a client. The court found that in the instant case, recognition of the common-law self-protection exception to the attorney-client privilege as part of Ohio law aided the administration of justice and was supported by decisions of other jurisdictions addressing the issue. Pursuant to the common-law self-protection exception to the attorney-client privilege, an attorney should be permitted to testify concerning attorney-client communications where necessary to collect a legal fee or to defend against a charge of malpractice or other wrongdoing ...