D. Alaska Rejects "Critical Self-Analysis" Privilege

A federal court in Alaska has issued an opinion rejecting the so-called "critical self-analysis" privilege asserted by a defendant in an environmental case seeking to protect internal risk assessments from discovery (Adams v. Teck Cominco Alaska, Inc., --- F.Supp.2d ----, 2005 WL 3071474, November 03, 2005). Having failed to find that the internal reports were protected by the attorney-client privilege as a result of the party's regular disclosure of the reports to an affiliated entity outside the attorney-client relationship, the court also rejected the proposed "critical self-analysis" privilege on the ground that the Ninth Circuit has yet to recognize the novel privilege.