Wis. Stat. » CHAPTER 905 — EVIDENCE — PRIVILEGES
Wisconsin Statutes

Wis. Stat. § 905.11 (2026)

Waiver of privilege by voluntary disclosure

✓ current as of July 2026
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905.11905.11 Waiver of privilege by voluntary disclosure. A person upon whom this chapter confers a privilege against disclosure of the confidential matter or communication waives the privilege if the person or his or her predecessor, while holder of the privilege, voluntarily discloses or consents to disclosure of any significant part of the matter or communication. This section does not apply if the disclosure is itself a privileged communication.
905.11 HistoryHistory: Sup. Ct. Order, 59 Wis. 2d R1, R150 (1973); 1987 a. 355; Sup. Ct. Order No. 93-03,179 Wis. 2d xv (1993).
905.11 AnnotationTestimony of an accomplice who waived her privilege is admissible even though she had not been tried or granted immunity. State v. Wells, 51 Wis. 2d 477, 187 N.W.2d 328 (1971).
905.11 AnnotationA litigant’s request to see his or her file that is in the possession of current or former counsel does not waive the attorney-client and work-product privileges and does not allow other parties to the litigation discovery of those files. Borgwardt v. Redlin, 196 Wis. 2d 342, 538 N.W.2d 581 (Ct. App. 1995), 94-2701.
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905.11 AnnotationA lawyer’s voluntary production of documents in response to opposing counsel’s discovery request does not constitute a waiver of the attorney-client privilege under this section when the lawyer does not recognize that the documents are subject to the attorney-client privilege and the documents are produced without the consent or knowledge of the client. The agency doctrine does not apply to waiver of attorney-client privilege as it relates to privileged documents. Harold Sampson Children’s Trust v. Linda Gale Sampson 1979 Trust, 2004 WI 57, 271 Wis. 2d 610, 679 N.W.2d 794, 02-1515.
905.11 AnnotationThe controlling principle of waiver is the privilege holder’s voluntary disclosure of any significant part of the matter or communication. It is clear from the terms of this section that a matter or communication can have several “significant parts.” The significance of any portion of a communication is measured by the importance of its subject matter to the overall communication. State v. Schmidt, 2016 WI App 45, 370 Wis. 2d 139, 884 N.W.2d 510, 15-0457.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 25 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1985–2023 · leading case: Johnson v. Rogers Mem'l Hosp., Inc., 2005 WI 114 (Wis. 2005).
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Johnson v. Rogers Mem'l Hosp., Inc., 2005 WI 114 (Wis. 2005). · cites it 28× “Concerning the release of the various medical records and therapy bills and Charlotte's disclosure that she was being hypnotized to Jain, the circuit court concluded that none of these disclosures constituted a "significant part of the matter or communication" under Wis. Stat. §…”
State v. Schmidt, 2016 WI App 45 (Wis. Ct. App. 2016). · cites it 21× “" Wis. Stat. § 905.11 . ¶ 38. The State, anticipating a challenge to the admissibility of certain portions of Stephanie's testimony, filed a pretrial motion to admit Stephanie's statements regarding her conversations with Schmidt.”
State v. Meeks, 2003 WI 104 (Wis. 2003). · cites it 4× “03 which sets forth the attorney-client privilege, de novo. It is well settled that the attorney-client privilege belongs to the client.”
State v. Denis L.R., 2004 WI App 51 (Wis. Ct. App. 2004). · cites it 14× “As with any privilege, the counselor-patient privilege may be waived by voluntary disclosure under Wis. Stat. § 905.11 , which provides: A person upon whom this chapter confers a privilege against disclosure of the confidential matter or communication waives the privilege if the…”
State v. Speese, 528 N.W.2d 63 (Wis. Ct. App. 1995). · cites it 6× “9 Section 905.11, Stats. Accordingly, if Kari, as the holder of the privilege, voluntarily consented to inspection of any given medical record by the district attorney's office, then she waived the patient privilege under § 905.”
Harold Sampson Child.'s Trust v. Linda Gale Sampson 1979 Trust, 2004 WI 57 (Wis. 2004). · cites it 3× “The attorney-client privilege is waived *621 under § 905.11 when the holder of the privileged documents "voluntarily discloses or consents to disclosure.”
State v. Stanley, 2012 WI App 42 (Wis. Ct. App. 2012). · cites it 3× “Even assuming, as the Tribune asserts, that "all" of Stanley's mental health records were "publicly accessible" as they existed almost thirty years ago and again at the time of the petition for conditional release, the Tribune fails to cite legal authority supporting the…”
State v. Denis L.R., 2005 WI 110 (Wis. 2005). · cites it 2× “(Rule) § 905.11. ¶ 25. Dawn also argued she could not have waived the privilege because she did not intend to waive the privilege.”
State v. Johnson, 395 N.W.2d 176 (Wis. 1986). “Under sec. 905.11, Stats., “[a] person upon whom this chapter confers a privilege against disclosure of the confidential matter or communication waives the privilege if he.”
Dyer v. Blackhawk Leather LLC, 2008 WI App 128 (Wis. Ct. App. 2008). · cites it 2× “2d 794 ; Wis. Stat. § 905.11 . Thus, the court held that cases from other jurisdictions discussing "inadvertent disclosure" were not apposite.”
Dyson v. Hempe, 413 N.W.2d 379 (Wis. Ct. App. 1987). · cites it 2× “Section 905.11, Stats., provides: A person upon whom this chapter confers a privilege against disclosure of the confidential matter or communication waives the privilege if he or his predecessor while holder of the privilege voluntarily discloses or consents to disclosure of any…”
Sands v. Whitnall Sch. Dist., 2008 WI 89 (Wis. 2008). “§ 905.11, for example, provides that an individual "upon whom this chapter confers a privilege against disclosure of the confidential matter or communication waives the privilege if the person or his or her predecessor, while holder of the privilege, voluntarily discloses or…”
Show all 25 citing cases →
— Wis. Stat. § 905.11(1) — 4 cases
Ollman v. Wisconsin Health Care Liab. Ins. Plan, 505 N.W.2d 399 (Wis. Ct. App. 1993).
State v. SH, 465 N.W.2d 238 (Wis. Ct. App. 1990).
Ollman v. Health Care Liab. Ins., 505 N.W.2d 399 (Wis. Ct. App. 1993).
State v. S.H., 465 N.W.2d 238 (Wis. Ct. App. 1990).
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.