§ 2018.080.Breach of duty; actions against attorney by client or former client

An attorney cannot use the work product doctrine as a shield against the client the doctrine was meant to serve. In litigation between an attorney and a client or former client, no work product privilege exists under this chapter if the work product bears on an issue of the attorney's alleged breach of a duty arising out of the attorney-client relationship, such as a malpractice or fee dispute where the attorney's own file and analysis go directly to what the attorney did or failed to do.

This exception is narrower than it might first appear: it applies specifically to litigation between the attorney and that attorney's own client or former client, not to work product disputes with third parties, and it reaches only work product relevant to the alleged breach of duty, not everything in the attorney's file regardless of relevance.