Legal Definitions - Perlman doctrine

The Perlman doctrine is a legal principle that allows an immediate appeal of a court order requiring a third party to hand over information or documents (known as a discovery order).

This doctrine applies when:

• A court orders a third party (someone not directly involved in the lawsuit) to produce information or documents.
• The information or documents belong to or are confidential to one of the actual parties in the lawsuit.
• The third party has no personal stake in keeping the information confidential and is therefore unlikely to risk being held in contempt of court by refusing to comply with the order. They will likely just hand over the information.

Because the third party is expected to comply rather than fight the order, the actual party whose confidential information is at risk would lose their opportunity to appeal the disclosure if they had to wait until the end of the entire lawsuit. The Perlman doctrine provides a way for that party to appeal the discovery order immediately, before the information is released, thereby protecting their rights to confidentiality or privilege.

Here are some examples illustrating the Perlman doctrine:

• Medical Records Scenario: Imagine a lawsuit between two businesses. During the discovery phase, one business seeks a court order compelling a hospital to release the detailed medical records of the CEO of the *other* business, claiming they are relevant to the CEO's ability to perform certain duties. The CEO believes these records are private and irrelevant. The hospital, as a neutral third party, has no interest in fighting the court order and would likely comply to avoid legal trouble. Under the Perlman doctrine, the CEO (the actual party whose records are at stake) can immediately appeal the court's order to the hospital, arguing that the records are privileged or not relevant, rather than waiting until after the hospital has already released the sensitive information.

• Bank Records Scenario: In a divorce proceeding, one spouse requests a court order for a bank to produce all financial statements and transaction records for a joint account held with the other spouse, covering a period before they were married. The other spouse argues that these records are private and outside the scope of the marital assets. The bank, being a third party, is not concerned with the privacy dispute between the spouses and will likely comply with the court order to avoid contempt. The Perlman doctrine allows the spouse whose pre-marital financial privacy is at risk to immediately appeal the court's order to the bank, seeking to prevent the disclosure of those specific records.

• Cloud Storage Data Scenario: A software company is suing a former employee for allegedly stealing trade secrets. The company obtains a court order directing a cloud storage provider to turn over all data from the former employee's personal account, which the company suspects contains proprietary information. The former employee claims that much of the data is personal and protected by privacy rights, and not related to the company's trade secrets. The cloud storage provider, a third party, has no incentive to challenge the court order and would likely release the data. The Perlman doctrine enables the former employee to immediately appeal the court's order to the cloud storage provider, allowing them to argue against the disclosure of their personal data before it is handed over to their former employer.