Worley concerned discovery related to a treating doctor’s relationship with a plaintiff’s firm. As amicus curiae, the Florida Justice Reform Institute argued that discovery regarding this relationship is critical, especially when plaintiffs are treated under letters of protection and their medical bills appear to be grossly inflated.
If the plaintiff’s attorney referred the plaintiff to the treating physician, and the treating physician will also testify as the plaintiff’s purported expert, the inherent bias of the physician’s opinions and potential for inflated or fraudulent billing should be exposed. The Florida Supreme Court disagreed, holding instead that the attorney-client privilege protects a party from being required to disclose whether his attorney referred the party to the treating physician, finding that the issue “implicates” a confidential “communication” between the attorney and client.
FJRI represented by Katherine E. Giddings, David Spector and Diane G. DeWolf of Akerman LLP, and William W. Large.