In re Meador

In In re Meador, 968 S.W.2d 346, 351-52 (Tex. 1998), the Court acknowledged that there are undoubtedly some situations when a party's lawyer who reviews another party's privileged information must be disqualified, even though the lawyer did not participate in obtaining the information. Meador, 968 S.W.2d at 351. However, the Court did not articulate a bright-line standard for disqualification in such situations. Meador, 968 S.W.2d at 351. Instead, we determined that a trial court must consider the importance of our discovery privileges along with all the facts and circumstances to decide "whether the interests of justice require disqualification." Meador, 968 S.W.2d at 351. The Court then identified six factors a trial court should consider when a lawyer receives an opponent's privileged materials. Meador, 968 S.W.2d at 351-52. However, the Court emphasized that "these factors apply only when a lawyer receives an opponent's privileged materials outside the normal course of discovery." Meador, 968 S.W.2d at 352.