On April 13, 2017, the Florida Supreme Court handed down the decision that the attorney-client privilege protects a party from being required to disclose that his or her attorney referred the party to a medical professional for treatment. This is a victory for our clients and your patients, as it will allow us to continue guiding the injured without the defense attempting to to imply that referrals are problematic or completely financially motivated.
In Worley v. Central Florida Young Men’s Christian Ass’n, Inc., No. SC15-1086, 2017 Fla. LEXIS 812 (Apr. 13, 2017), the Florida Supreme Court court found that an attorney referring a client to a certain physician or treater implied a confidential communication and therefore, was protected under the attorney-client privilege. This decision is incredibly important for our clients because it prevents the defense from inquiring into the nature of the referral to a physician, leading some to question the value of your treatment.
The Court went on to say that any discovery regarding the relationship between a firm and a treater is also improper. Thus the defense can no longer conduct discovery regarding the number of referrals in the past, etc.. The court opined that subjecting treaters to such discovery could have a chilling effect for those treaters who are willing to help accident victims.
What was the defense’s end goal before Worley? The defense was hoping that a jury would find a referral from an attorney and a history of referrals to be part of a larger money-making scheme. In fact, the defense in Worley admitted to looking for a “cozy agreement” between the law firm and treaters. See Worley at 3. This, however, could not be further from the truth.
In our business, we tend to have more contact with the right doctors and treaters our clients need. These clients come to us for advice and usually have not had chiropractic or orthopedic issues in the past, so we are happy to direct them to a medical professional who may be able to help. Worley will now allow us and other plaintiff’s firms to continue to guide our clients through the confusion of medical treatment without being penalized later on in the case.
We are happy that the Florida Supreme Court got it right in this case and wanted to share it with you. Here is the link to the full case:
http://www.