Also known as: disclosures · duty of disclosure
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The act or process of making known information that was previously unknown. In legal proceedings the term encompasses both voluntary revelations and compelled productions of facts or documents under procedural rules.
Devon Drake sued Deborah Dunn for breach of contract and served requests for production of financial records. Dunn failed to respond after multiple reminders. Drake filed a motion in the pending district court and attached a certification stating that counsel had conferred in good faith by email and telephone in an unsuccessful effort to obtain the documents without court involvement.
Dillon Energy produced thousands of documents in response to discovery requests. One privileged email was accidentally included among the files. The company had used keyword searches and privilege logs to screen materials before production and immediately notified opposing counsel upon discovering the error.
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Dominic Drake, a director of Dynamic Solutions, proposed that the corporation purchase equipment from a company he partially owned. Before the board vote Drake informed the other directors of his ownership interest and the material terms of the deal. The qualified directors then deliberated and approved the transaction without Drake's participation.
Diana Delgado represented a corporate client in pending litigation. She stored client documents on a cloud platform that lacked encryption. After learning of a data breach at the provider, Delgado implemented two-factor authentication and restricted access to only those firm employees assigned to the matter.
Dolores Diaz was questioned by federal agents about statements her husband had made to her during their marriage. She refused to answer, asserting that the communications were confidential. The government offered no evidence to rebut the presumption that the statements were made in confidence.
Dawson Steel's partners learned that one partner had used partnership resources for a personal side venture. After the partner disclosed all material facts about the venture, the remaining partners unanimously voted to ratify the transaction and release any claim for breach of the duty of loyalty.
The motion must include a certification that the movant conferred or attempted to confer in good faith with the party failing to disclose in an effort to obtain the information without court action.
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Inadvertent disclosure does not operate as a waiver if the holder took reasonable steps to prevent disclosure and promptly took reasonable steps to rectify the error.
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The conflicted director must disclose information not already known by the qualified directors before the transaction is authorized by a majority of those directors voting outside the conflicted director's presence.
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A lawyer must make reasonable efforts to prevent the inadvertent or unauthorized disclosure of, or unauthorized access to, information relating to the representation of a client.
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The government bears the burden of overcoming the presumption that communications between spouses are confidential rather than the spouse asserting the privilege.
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All partners may authorize or ratify the transaction after full disclosure of all material facts.
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…to associate and privacy in one’s associations,” noting that freedom of association is a peripheral First Amendment right. Disclosure of membership lists of a constitutionally valid association, we held, was invalid “as entailing the likelihood of a substantial restraint upon the exercise by petitioner’s members of their…