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The appellate court affirmed in part and reversed in part the trial court's discovery order regarding attorney-client privilege and work product doctrine protections. The court upheld some documents as protected while ordering others discoverable, with no abuse of discretion found in the trial court's balanced approach.
1. Appeal and Error — appealability — discovery order — some documents protected, some not — immediately appealable The immediate appeal of a trial court discovery order protecting some but not all of the documents in question affected a substantial right that would otherwise be lost, and the order was reviewed. However, the order will be upset only by a showing that the trial court abused its discretion. 2. Discovery — emails — attorney-client privilege — inapplicability Emails exchanged between bank officials were not protected from discovery by the attorney-client privilege where they suggested a purely business matter, were not for legal advice, and the attorneys were copied merely for information. A document without privilege in the hands of the client does not become privileged merely because it is handed to the attorney. 3. Discovery — emails — attorney-client privilege — applicability The trial court did not abuse its discretion by finding that certain emails were protected from discovery by the attorney-client privilege where the attorney-client relationship was firmly established at the time the emails were sent; the emails were apparently exchanged in confidence; they related to discovery matters about which the attorneys were being consulted; and they were exchanged in the course of litigation and arbitration.Page 407 4. Discovery — attorney-client privilege — applicability The trial court did not abuse its discretion by ruling that an email from counsel discussing revisions to a draft resolution and an email from in-house counsel were protected from discovery by the attorney-client privilege and that an email from attorneys requesting a meeting and an email from defendant shared with attorneys an
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