Mullins v. Tompkins

Nan H. Mullins, the defendant in a dental malpractice action filed by Alice Tompkins, petitions for a writ of certiorari. Dr. Mullins asks us to quash the trial court’s order which denied her motion for protective order, and required instead that the materials in controversy be unsealed and provided to Ms. Tompkins, a former patient: The trial court ruled that Dr. Mullins had waived any attorney-client privilege or work product protection merely by sending the documents to her own expert. Persuaded that the trial court’s ruling departs from the essential requirements of law and that its order…