A lawyer for a husband in a matrimonial action properly limited her answers in a deposition by the wife's attorneys intended to draw out information about the husband's mental competency to sign settlement stipulations, a state judge has ruled.

Westchester County Supreme Court Justice Lawrence Ecker (See Profile) said that forcing the husband's attorney to answer further questions from opposing counsel would have a “deleterious effect upon the sanctity” of attorney-client privilege.

In Q.C. v. L.C., 1016/13, Q.C., the plaintiff husband, is seeking to void four settlement stipulations he agreed to from January 2013 to November 2013, arguing that he was mentally ill at the time.