In the aftermath of the soap opera-like ethical scandal over an undisclosed romantic relationship between a Jackson Walker partner and a Texas bankruptcy judge, an Oregon federal court dealt with discovery of a renowned ethics lawyer who advised Jackson Walker at pertinent times.
In In re Professional Fee Matters Concerning the Jackson Walker Law Firm, the Texas U.S. trustee looking into Jackson Walker’s conduct sought documents from nationally recognized Holland & Knight ethics partner Peter Jarvis, whom Jackson Walker retained “upon first hearing allegations of [the] intimate relationship.” No. 3:24-mc-00894-AB, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 216508, at *4 (D. Or. Nov. 27, 2024). The court understandably concluded that Jackson Walker had expressly waived any attorney-client privilege covering Jarvis’ work by sharing its contents with the personal lawyer of the now-former partner in the relationship. The personal lawyer later shared it with the U.S. trustee. The court then sarcastically noted that “[in] the closing minutes of oral argument on the Motion to Compel,” Jackson Walker “raised for the first time that the firm also sought to assert a work product privilege.” Id. at *25. The court found that Jackson Walker’s delay also waived that protection — bluntly explaining that the firm could have asserted such a work product claim, but “simply failed to do so.” Id. at *27.
Wise lawyers always consider both possible attorney-client privilege and work product doctrine protections. The former is absolute but fragile. The latter is more robust but can be overcome.
