"Is it Still Privileged? An Insurer's Disclosure of Information to its Reinsurers and Brokers Waives Privilege . . . Sometimes" by K. Renee Schimkat

[Editor's note: K. Renee Schimkat is of counsel with Carlton Fields Jorden Burt P.A., resident in its Miami, Florida office. Copyright 2014, K. Renee Schimkat.]

A federal district court recently held that an insurer waived any claim of attorney-client or work product privilege when it disclosed otherwise potentially privileged information to its reinsurers and to its broker. In doing so, the court rejected application of the common interest doctrine to the communications at issue. That doctrine serves as an exception to the general rule that voluntary disclosure of privileged information to a third party waives applicable privileges.

Progressive Casualty …