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Section 52-146r – Disclosure of confidential communications between government attorney and public official or employee of public agency prohibited

May 11, 2021 | Civil Procedure, Connecticut

(a) As used in this section:

(1) “Authorized representative” means an individual empowered by a public agency to assert the confidentiality of communications that are privileged under this section;
(2) “Confidential communications” means all oral and written communications transmitted in confidence between a public official or employee of a public agency acting in the performance of his or her duties or within the scope of his or her employment and a government attorney relating to legal advice sought by the public agency or a public official or employee of such public agency from that attorney, and all records prepared by the government attorney in furtherance of the rendition of such legal advice;
(3) “Government attorney” means a person admitted to the bar of this state and employed by a public agency or retained by a public agency or public official to provide legal advice to the public agency or a public official or employee of such public agency; and
(4) “Public agency” means “public agency” as defined in section 1-200.
(b) In any civil or criminal case or proceeding or in any legislative or administrative proceeding, all confidential communications shall be privileged and a government attorney shall not disclose any such communications unless an authorized representative of the public agency consents to waive the privilege and allow such disclosure.

Conn. Gen. Stat. ยง 52-146r

( P.A. 99-179, S. 1.)

Section, even if applied retroactively, would not affect the legal standard applied in deciding that certain invoices were not protected by attorney-client privilege. 260 C. 143. “Confidential communications” are those where the attorney is acting in a professional capacity for the agency, the communications are made to the attorney by current employees or officials of the agency, the communications relate to the legal advice sought by the agency from the attorney, and the communications are made in confidence. 300 C. 511.