A federal district court orders a corporation to produce documents that the corporation claims are protected by the attorney-client privilege. The corporation wants to take an immediate appeal from the production order. Under what circumstances may the corporation obtain appellate review before final judgment?
The corporation may appeal at once upon showing that disclosure will cause substantial business harm.
The corporation can invoke pendent appellate jurisdiction to appeal the order whenever any other interlocutory appeal is filed in the case.
The order may be appealed immediately because it meets the collateral-order doctrine criteria.
The order is not appealable as of right; immediate review is available only if the corporation is held in contempt or obtains discretionary review (for example, certification under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b) or a writ of mandamus).
Disclosure orders adverse to the attorney-client privilege are not immediately appealable under the collateral-order doctrine. Mohawk Industries v. Carpenter holds that the order may be reviewed only after final judgment unless the party pursues one of three alternatives: (1) refuse to comply, accept a contempt citation, and appeal that contempt order; (2) obtain district-court certification and appellate-court permission for an interlocutory appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b); or (3) secure an extraordinary writ such as mandamus. Because none of these occurs automatically, the order is not appealable as of right. The other options are incorrect because (a) the collateral-order doctrine does not apply, (b) generalized claims of harm do not create appellate jurisdiction, and (c) pendent appellate jurisdiction does not confer a free-standing right to appeal discovery rulings.
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