There is no applicable privilege for government attorneys outside of civil or criminal or administrative litigation. As Governor Crist’s Commission on Open Government reform states in its final report at pp. 11, 25:
11. Government Attorneys and the Attorney-Client Privilege
The attorney-client privilege protects communications between an attorney and
the attorney’s client. This privilege is limited under Florida law when the client is a government agency.
There are two exemptions designed to protect the communications between an
agency attorney and the government client: one an exemption for certain records
prepared by an agency attorney for use in civil or criminal litigation or an adversarial administrative proceeding; and the second for meetings between the agency attorney and the government client. Both exemptions are limited in scope and applicability…..
Because of Florida’s historical presumption of openness to the records and meetings of government, communications between an attorneys and their government clients were not protected by the attorney-client privilege.
http://www.flgov.com/pdfs/og_2009finalreport.pdf
This truth will come as a shock to the RONALD WAYNE BROWNS and GEOFFREY DOBSONS of St. Augustine, limited lawyers who long advised both governments and developers.
What do you reckon?
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