The United States Supreme Court has ruled that disclosure orders adverse to the attorney-client privilege do not qualify for immediate appeal under the collateral order doctrine. Effective appellate review of such orders can be had by other means, including postjudgment review. An appellate court can remedy the improper disclosure of privileged materials by vacating an adverse judgment and remanding for a new trial in which the protected material and its fruits are excluded from evidence. In addition, a litigant confronted with a particularly injurious or novel privilege ruling also may ask the district court to certify an interlocutory appeal involving “a controlling question of law,” or may petition the court of appeals for a writ of mandamus, or may defy the disclosure order and then appeal from any contempt order. Mohawk Industries, Inc. v Carpenter, ___ U.S. ___ (2009) (Thomas, J , concurring in part)
