A corporation retained an attorney in an antitrust matter in which the corporation was the plaintiff. Their agreement provides that the attorney will bill the corporation on an hourly basis but will not collect anything except costs until the corporation receives a recovery or a settlement in the action. The corporation had severe ethical problems with some of the things that the attorney did, and disagreed on how the case was being handled. The corporation then retained another law firm on a contingency basis. The antitrust suit went to trial, and the corporation was awarded a big judgment. The attorney sued the corporation for his uncollected fees. The corporation denied that it owed the attorney anything on the basis of malpractice, and in any event, no money was due yet because the judgment had not been collected.
The attorney wants to introduce evidence that the judgment has been collected by showing disbursements from the contingency firm’s trust account to the corporation.
Is the evidence admissible?
A. No, because it is protected by the attorney-client privilege.
B. No, because it is irrelevant.
C. Yes, because it is not a confidential communication covered by the attorney-client privilege.
D. Yes, because the privilege is not applicable to disputes between the client and the attorney.
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