A.R. ex rel. Root v. Dudek

304 F.R.D. 668, 2015 WL 220966
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedJanuary 15, 2015
DocketCase No. 12-60460-CIV
StatusPublished

This text of 304 F.R.D. 668 (A.R. ex rel. Root v. Dudek) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
A.R. ex rel. Root v. Dudek, 304 F.R.D. 668, 2015 WL 220966 (S.D. Fla. 2015).

Opinion

ORDER ON UNITED STATES’ MOTION FOR PROTECTIVE ORDER

PATRICK M. HUNT, United States Magistrate Judge.

This matter is before this Court on the United States’ Motion for Protective Order, filed on December 9, 2014. ECF No. 299. On October 9, 2014, the Honorable William J. Zloeh referred all pretrial motions to the undersigned United States Magistrate Judge. ECF No. 275; see also 28 U.S.C.A. § 636(b); S.D. Fla. L.R., Mag. R. 1. The United States’ Motion was temporarily granted pending a hearing, which was held on January 12, 2015. ECF Nos. 305, 312. After careful review of the Motion, the Response and Reply thereto, the parties’ oral argument, and the applicable ease law, and being otherwise duly advised in the premises, it is hereby ORDERED and ADJUDGED that the United States’ Motion for Protective Order is DENIED IN PART and GRANTED IN PART, as more fully set forth below.

The United States seeks a protective order precluding the State’s Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 30(b)(6) deposition of its representative. ECF No. 299. The United States argues that its representative will be its litigation counsel who was also involved in the enforcement investigation. As such, it is the United States’ position that all information potentially gained from the deposition will be work product or duplicative of information already provided in answers to interrogatories or found in its investigation report provided to the State. Though the United States conceded at the hearing that it could designate a non-attorney as its representative, the United States’ Motion relies primarily on an analysis of whether the State can depose an attorney.

The United States also argues that some of the noticed topics—Topics 5, 6, 10, and 11— are irrelevant or overbroad. Specifically, the United States maintains that (1) Topic 5 seeks attorney work product because it addresses “specific facts surrounding the investigation ... including the specific facilities that [the United States] visited and the individuals that [the United States] interviewed”; (2) Topic 6 inappropriately seeks testimony regarding civil actions brought by the United States under Title II of the ADA prior to 2008 because this information is irrelevant; and (3) Topics 10 and 11 are inappropriate attempts to seek privileged information that has been subject to the United States’ privilege log. ECF No. 299 at 4.

Last, the United States briefly argues that the State’s notice of deposition does not comply with the DOJ’s regulations governing demands for oral testimony from the United States because it does not include an affidavit or “provide a sufficient summary of the testimony sought.” ECF No. 299 (quoting 28 C.F.R. § 16.23(c)).

The State argues that there is no exception under Rule 30(b)(6) for a government entity and also argues that the United States’ position is fundamentally flawed because the United States is not required to designate one of its attorneys as its representative. Regarding the objeeted-to topics noticed by the State, the State maintains that (1) Topic 5 is discoverable because the State is not seeking information regarding the method of fact gathering that the United States undertook, rather, the State is simply seeking the names of the witnesses interviewed and institutions visited that provided the factual foundation for the United States’ enforcement action; (2) Topic 6 is relevant because of the State’s position that the United States does not have standing to enforce Title II of the ADA; and (3) for purposes of Topics 10 and 11, “[e]ven if it were ‘unorthodox’ to seek the factual basis of privilege assertions in a deposition, it is not objectionable.” ECF No. 303 at 5.

The United States relies on S.E.C. v. Monterosso, No. 07-61693-CIV, 2009 WL 8708868 (S.D.Fla.2009) (Garber, J.) and United States Attorney General v. Pine, No. 10-80971-CIV, slip op. ECF No. 64 (S.D.Fla.2011) (Vitunac, J.), for the proposition that a Rule 30(b)(6) deposition of an enforcing agency is inappropriate because it would involve the work product of the agency’s attorney; whereas the State relies on S.E.C. v. Merkin, 283 F.R.D. 689 (S.D.Fla.2012) (Goodman, J.), and other similar holdings, for the proposition that there is no blanket exception pro[670]*670hibiting the deposition of an enforcing agency. See S.E.C. v. Kramer, 778 F.Supp.2d 1320, 1328 (M.D.Fla.2011) (“Permitting the Commission in this instance to assert a blanket claim of privilege in response to a Rule 30(b)(6) notice creates an unworkable circumstance in which a defendant loses a primary means of discovery without a meaningful review of his opponent’s claim of privilege.”).

Rule 30(b)(6) provides that “a party may name as the deponent ... a governmental agency ... and must describe with reasonable particularity the matters for examination.” After the governmental agency has received the notice, it “must then designate one or more officers, directors, or managing agents, or designate other persons who consent to testify on its behalf.” Id. A person who is designated to testify “must testify about information known or reasonably available to the organization.” Id.

Notwithstanding Rule 30(b)(6), “[ojrdinarily, a party may not discover documents and tangible things that are prepared in anticipation of litigation or for trial by or for another party or its representative (including the other party’s attorney, consultant, surety, indemnitor, insurer, or agent).” Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(b)(3)(A). But, the documents may be discoverable if the party “shows that it has a substantial need for the materials to prepare its case and cannot, without undue hardship, obtain their substantial equivalent by other means.” Here, the State has not requested any documents or notes created during the United States’ investigation. Instead, the State seeks testimony regarding the facts that were included in the Complaint, which is distinguishable from work product. Stern v. O’Quinn, 253 F.R.D. 663, 685-86 (S.D.Fla.2008).

After careful review of the aforementioned Rules and the cases cited by the parties, the undersigned holds that the reasoning applied in Merkin and other similar’ decisions is persuasive and is a more workable reading of the Rules. Indeed, “[i]t is very unusual for a court to prohibit the taking of a deposition altogether and absent extraordinary circumstances, such an order would likely be in error.” Salter v. Upjohn Co., 593 F.2d 649, 651 (5th Cir.1979).1

First, this Court agrees with the State that the United States’ position is fundamentally flawed because Rule 30(b)(6) does not require a government entity to designate one of its attorneys as its representative.

Second, the United States’ argument—that even if it designated a non-attorney representative, such a representative would be tantamount to an attorney because the attorney would have to prepare the representative—is flawed as addressed by Judge Goodman in Merkin. 283 F.R.D.

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Bluebook (online)
304 F.R.D. 668, 2015 WL 220966, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ar-ex-rel-root-v-dudek-flsd-2015.