TX · rules
Tex. R. Evid. 511
Waiver by Voluntary Disclosure
(a) General Rule.
A person upon whom these rules confer a privilege against disclosure waives the privilege
if:
(1) the person or a predecessor of the person while holder of the privilege voluntarily
discloses or consents to disclosure of any significant part of the privileged matter
unless such disclosure itself is privileged; or
(2) the person or a representative of the person calls a person to whom privileged
communications have been made to testify as to the person’s character or character
trait insofar as such communications are relevant to such character or character trait.
(b) Lawyer-Client Privilege and Work Product; Limitations on Waiver.
Notwithstanding paragraph (a), the following provisions apply, in the
circumstances set out, to disclosure of a communication or information covered by
the lawyer-client privilege or work-product protection.
(1) Disclosure Made in a Federal or State Proceeding or to a Federal or State
Office or Agency; Scope of a Waiver. When the disclosure is made in a
federal proceeding or state proceeding of any state or to a federal office or
agency or state office or agency of any state and waives the lawyer-client
privilege or work-product protection, the waiver extends to an undisclosed
communication or information only if:
(A) the waiver is intentional;
(B) the disclosed and undisclosed communications or
information concern the same subject matter; and
(C) they ought in fairness to be considered together.
(2) Inadvertent Disclosure in State Civil Proceedings. When made in a Texas
state proceeding, an inadvertent disclosure does not operate as a waiver if
the holder followed the procedures of Rule of Civil Procedure 193.3(d).
(3) Controlling Effect of a Court Order. A disclosure made in litigation
pending before a federal court or a state court of any state that has entered
an order that the privilege or protection is not waived by disclosure
connected with the litigation pending before that court is also not a waiver
in a Texas state proceeding.
(4) Controlling Effect of a Party Agreement. An agreement on the effect of
disclosure in a state proceeding of any state is binding only on the parties to
the agreement, unless it is incorporated into a court order.
History
Notes and Comments Comment to 2015 Restyling: The amendments to Rule 511 are designed to align Texas law with federal law on waiver of privilege by voluntary disclosure. Subsection (a) sets for th the general rule. Subsection (b) incorporates the provisions of Federal Rule of Evidence 502. Like the federal rule, subsection (b) only address es disclosure of communications or information covered by the lawyer-client privilege or work-product protection. The se amendments do not affect the law governing waiver of other privileges or protections.
Provenance
- Source
- txcourts.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-15
- Edition
- 2026-09-14
- Content hash
564e05f2cf0d6c6d7d0334ea5a2eb5425a41dd485aee0ee641478dfe2721725a
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