Republic Insurance Company, Relator v. the Honorable Paul R. Davis, Jr., Judge, Respondent

Summary

The Texas Supreme Court held that the Ginsberg offensive‑use waiver does not apply to the attorney‑client privilege here because Republic's declaratory‑judgment action is not affirmative relief, and that the party‑communication privilege does not extend to communications made in other litigation; consequently the trial court's order compelling production of privileged documents was abused and the writ of mandamus was granted. Justice Gammage, in a partial concurrence/dissent, agreed with the majority on the objection issue and privilege analysis but disagreed that the declaratory‑judgment action is not offensive use and would have denied the writ.