State ex rel. Slattery v. Burditt

LOWENSTEIN, Presiding Judge.

This action for prohibition under Rule 97 involves the attorney-client privilege and the *763work product exception in the context of an inspection, via discover)', of all the files of an attorney representing the employer in a workers’ compensation claim. The claimant is being criminally prosecuted for fraud under § 287.128, RSMo 1994, and now seeks to discover the complete file of his employer’s attorney as an aid in his criminal defense.

Slattery, the relator, represents J.B. Hunt Transport in a claim for compensation filed by Donald Ethridge. Slattery and his firm…