99 Wall Development Inc. v. Allied World Specialty Insurance Company

District Court, S.D. New York·Decided June 14, 2019·No. 1:18-cv-00126·Unknown

Opinion

USL SUNT DOCUMENT ELECTRONICALLY FILED DOC #: UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DATE FILED:_ 06/14/2019 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK anno Plaintiff, OPINION & ORDER ON MOTION TO COMPEL -against- 18-CV-126 (RA) (KHP) ALLIED WORLD SPECIALTY INSURANCE COMPANY formerly known as DARWIN NATIONAL ASSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant. anno KATHARINE H. PARKER, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE Plaintiff 99 Wall Development Inc. (“99 Wall”) is seeking payments under a Commercial Inland Marine Property insurance policy provided by Defendant Allied World Specialty Insurance Company (“Allied”).1 The insurance payments are for losses sustained from two major water leaks that damaged a 29-story office building that 99 Wall was converting into residential condominiums, causing significant repair costs and delay in completion of the conversion project. The two water-related losses occurred on July 29, 2016 and October 6, 2016. The first incident involved rain water leaking through the roof of the building and causing damage to the building’s elevators. The second incident involved a leak from a water tank on the 25" floor of the building, causing extensive damage to various condominium units and common areas.

1 Allied was formerly known as Darwin National Assurance Company.

99 Wall timely submitted claims to Allied. As part of its investigation into the claims, Allied requested documents from 99 Wall including the construction schedule and modifications to the schedule, invoices, and various contracts for the project. While it was investigating, Allied advanced certain amounts to 99 Wall and ultimately paid more amounts that it deemed were covered under the policy. However, 99 Wall contends that more amounts

are due under the policy—in particular, for losses caused by the delay in the completion of the project. In February 2017, Allied informed 99 Wall that it needed to further investigate the delay and causes for it. In May 2017, Allied informed 99 Wall of its final coverage position— that the policy did not cover costs associated with the delay in the project. Subsequently, 99 Wall brought this action for breach of contract. In connection with this claim, 99 Wall alleges that Allied acted in bad faith throughout its investigation and

adjustment of its insurance claims. It contends that Allied did not promptly pay amounts it knew were due under the policy and attempted to take advantage of 99 Wall’s precarious financial situation by offering less than full coverage under the policy. Presently before the Court is Plaintiff’s motion to compel production of certain documents listed on Allied’s privilege log. (ECF No. 100.) In connection with the motion, 99 Wall identified one hundred representative documents on the log for this Court’s in camera

review. Allied subsequently produced 20 of the 100 documents, leaving 80 for the Court to review in camera. A portion of the documents were withheld in total on the grounds they were protected by the attorney client privilege and/or work product doctrine. The remaining documents were produced in redacted format, with the redacted portions withheld on the 2 same grounds, as well as relevance grounds to the extent the redactions pertain to litigation reserves set aside for 99 Wall’s claim and reinsurance coverage amount changes related to 99 Wall’s claim. For the reasons set forth below, the motion is granted in part and denied in part. LEGAL STANDARDS

1. Scope of Discovery Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(1) sets the boundaries for discovery. A party may request and obtain non-privileged information relevant to its claims and defenses and proportional to the needs of the case. Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(1). Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 1, both parties are obliged to pursue discovery within the limits of Rule 26(b)(1) and in a manner designed to result in a speedy resolution with as minimal costs as possible. Here,

the parties dispute the relevance of reserve and reinsurance information. If a document is not relevant, the Court need not address whether the document is privileged. If a document is relevant and privileged, the party asserting privilege has the burden of demonstrating it is privileged. See, e.g., United States v. Mejia, 655 F.3d 126, 132 (2d Cir. 2011) (citing von Bulow ex rel. Auersperg v. von Bulow, 811 F.2d 136, 144 (2d Cir. 1987)); In re Priest v. Hennessy, 51 N.Y.2d 62, 68-70, 409 N.E.2d 983, 986-87, (1980); Hoopes v. Carota, 142 A.D.2d 906, 910, 531 N.Y.S.2d

407, 410 142 A.D.2d 906, 910 (3rd Dep’t 1988), aff’d 74 N.Y.2d 716, 543 N.E.2d 73 (1989). 2. Attorney-Client Privilege In diversity cases such as this, where state law governs the claims, the Court looks to state law for determining privilege. E.g., AIU Ins. Co. v. TIG Ins. Co., No. 07 Civ. 7052(SHS)(HBP), 3 2008 WL 4067437, at *5 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 28, 2008) (citations omitted) (applying New York law), modified on reconsideration, No. 07 Civ. 7052(SHS)(HBP), 2009 WL 1953039 (S.D.N.Y. July 8, 2009); see also Fed. R. Evid. 501. Under New York law, the attorney-client privilege protects communications between client and counsel made for the purpose of obtaining or providing legal advice that were

intended to be and in fact kept confidential. Bowne of N.Y.C., Inc. v. AmBase Corp., 161 F.R.D. 258, 264 (S.D.N.Y. 1995) (citing People v. Osorio, 75 N.Y.2d 80, 82–84, 549 N.E.2d 1183, 1185 (1989)). The privilege is narrowly construed because it renders relevant information undiscoverable. Upjohn Co. v. United States, 449 U.S. 383, 389 (1981); see also Hoopes, supra, 142 A.D.2d 906 at 908, 531 N.Y.S.2d 407 at 409 (explaining that the attorney-client privilege “constitutes an obstacle to the truth-finding process” and, thus, its “invocation . . . should be

cautiously observed to ensure that its application is consistent with its purpose” (internal quotation marks, alterations, and citations omitted)). Internal investigation notes and documents also may be privileged. Because the “first step in the resolution of any legal problem is ascertaining the factual background and sifting through the facts with an eye to the legally relevant,” Upjohn, supra, , 449 U.S. at 390-91, factual investigations conducted or directed by an attorney fall within the attorney-client

rubric. Id. at 391 (employee factual responses to questionnaires from counsel in connection with internal investigation to provide legal advice protected by attorney-client privilege); Gucci Am., Inc. v. Guess?, Inc., 271 F.R.D. 58, 71 (S.D.N.Y. 2010) (citations omitted) (collecting cases).

4 Finally, draft documents sent to counsel for legal review may be protected by the attorney-client privilege if the draft and communications concerning it were intended to be and maintained as confidential. See Bowne of N.Y.C., Inc. v. AmBase Corp., 150 F.R.D. 456, 490 (S.D.N.Y. 1993) (citing Kenford v. Cty. of Erie, 55 A.D.2d 466, 469, 471, 390 N.Y.S.2d 715, 719 (4th Dep’t 1977)); S.E.C. v. Beacon Hill Asset Mgmt. LLC, 231 F.R.D. 134, 145 (S.D.N.Y. 2004);

Softview Comput. Prods. Corp. v. Haworth, Inc., No. 97 Civ. 8815 (KMW) (HBP), 2000 WL 351411, at *15 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 31, 2000); Sequa Corp.

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99 Wall Development Inc. v. Allied World Specialty Insurance Company, (S.D.N.Y. 2019).

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