Many lawyers who are experienced in the customary rules and procedures in civil case discovery struggle needlessly, and in a manner that is time-consuming and unduly costly to all parties, regarding discovery related to peace officer personnel file information: this appears to be the result of the fact that many practitioners do not understand the unique protections that are afforded to law enforcement officers when it comes to information that is typically stored by a public entity in the officers' personnel files. This article conducts an overview of the fundamental principles and issues that typically arise where civil discovery intersects with the peace officer personnel information privileges of California law. In addition to the primer on the scope and discovery mechanisms at issue in civil cases involving peace officers, this article also addresses some emerging trends in discovery related to peace officer personnel record information - including developing trends where the peace officer is in an adversarial position to the public entity that is the custodian of the officers' personnel file information - as well as the impact and overlap of the California-law peace officer record privileges upon federal privileges and discovery in federal cases.About the Author: Tony M. Sain is a trial attorney and senior associate on the public entity defense and employment law teams of the law firm of Manning & Kass, Ellrod, Ramirez, Trester, LLP, and is a Super Lawyers Rising Star for 2013 and 2014. Mr. Sain has successfully defended countless peace officers and dozens of public entities in a variety of civil cases in both state and federal court. Mr. Sain's practice centers on defending municipalities, law enforcement agencies, and police officers in civil rights, excessive force, unlawful arrest, wrongful death, and employment discrimination-harassment-retaliation actions; he also has extensive litigation experience in products liability and toxic tort cases. Mr. Sain has also served as a pro bono trial prosecutor for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Mr. Sain is a graduate of Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs: where he specialized in complex governmental systems and executive management. He is also a graduate of Loyola Law School of Los Angeles: where he was a litigator on the national team of the Scott Moot Court Board for Appellate Advocacy; winner of the Best Advocate award for the State of California in the National Moot Court competition; a member of the prestigious Hobbs/Poehls Trial Advocacy Program; a member of the Williams Civil Rights Litigation Seminar; a clerk for the Hon. Magistrate Judge Andrew J. Wistrich, U.S. Central District Court; and an extern for the American Civil Liberties Union. Mr. Sain is also a graduate of the Trial School of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), Los Angeles, as well as the Trial Advocacy Program (TAP) of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. Prior to becoming an attorney, Mr. Sain spent ten years as a top executive officer in charge of managing a variety of corporate/for-profit and non-profit entities, he was one of the youngest executive directors in the history of one of America's oldest community and youth service organizations, and he brings his unique experience as a chief departmental executive and director to his legal practice.