The following excerpt is from Fishman v. Swarthout, No. 2:13-cv-02421-GGH (E.D. Cal. 2015):
The application of the attorney-client privilege in this case was not disproportional to the need to present a defense in this case, and thus did not run afoul of Holmes. That the attorney-client privilege applied to the undisclosed emails is a matter of state law determined by the state courts after in camera review. Nothing in the context of the facts, or the case law requiring this court to be bound by rulings on state law, Bradshaw v. Richey, 546 U.S. 74, 76, 126 S.Ct. 602 (2005), would permit this federal court to arrive at an opposite conclusion. Moreover, the privilege is a weighty one and should not be dismissed simply because an opponent thinks his impeachment case might get better if these privileged communications were to be disclosed.
All evidentiary claims should be denied.
IV. Restitution
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