In Re District Court

Summary

The court held that financial records revealing a litigant's compensation and the method used to determine it implicate the right to privacy and cannot be compelled based solely on relevance. The requesting party must establish relevance, a compelling state interest or compelling need, the unavailability of the information from other sources, and use of the least intrusive means when alternatives exist. Because the trial court applied the wrong burden and failed to perform this analysis, the court made the rule absolute, reversed the discovery-related fee award, and remanded.