To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog: Understandably based on fairness notions, the subject matter waiver doctrine prevents litigants from explicitly or impliedly using privileged communications as a "sword" while simultaneously asserting the privilege as a "shield" to prevent discovery of related communications. As with many privilege concepts, applying the subject matter waiver doctrine can involve subtle analyses. In Strand v. USANA Health Sciences, Inc., Case No. 2:17-cv-00925-HCN-JCB, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 232348, at *4 (D. Utah Dec. 9, 2020), plaintiff intentionally produced privileged documents "disclos[ing] facts that are favorable . . . while redacting facts that may be of value to" defendant. Rejecting plaintiff’s husband's effort to resist production of the unredacted version of the documents, the court ordered plaintiff to produce all of the pertinent documents in their "unredacted form."