Samaritan Foundation v. Goodfarb
Arizona Supreme Court
862 P.2d 870 (1993)
- Written by Sharon Feldman, JD
Facts
A child’s heart stopped during surgery at the Phoenix Children’s Hospital (Phoenix) in the Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center (Samaritan) (petitioner). A Samaritan paralegal interviewed the nurses and technician present during the surgery and prepared memoranda summarizing the interviews. The child and her parents (the family) sued Phoenix and the surgeons for medical malpractice. When deposed, the employees could not remember the incident. The family moved to compel disclosure of the paralegal’s memoranda. After reviewing the summaries in camera, the trial court indicated it would delete attorney work product and release those portions of the memoranda that were witness statements. Samaritan petitioned the court of appeals for special action, arguing that the communications summarized in the memoranda were protected by Samaritan’s attorney-client privilege. The court of appeals denied relief. The Arizona Supreme Court granted review.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Martone, J.)
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