Baker v. CNA Insurance

123 F.R.D. 322, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13052, 1988 WL 124058
CourtDistrict Court, D. Montana
DecidedJuly 15, 1988
DocketNo. CV-87-069-GF
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 123 F.R.D. 322 (Baker v. CNA Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Montana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Baker v. CNA Insurance, 123 F.R.D. 322, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13052, 1988 WL 124058 (D. Mont. 1988).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

HATFIELD, District Judge.

This action has its genesis in two dental malpractice claims. The defendants, CNA Insurance Company and the Chubb Group (hereinafter collectively referred to as “CNA”), provided liability insurance coverage to the dentist against whom the plaintiff asserted the malpractice claims on behalf of his minor daughters. In the aftermath of a settlement of the underlying claims, the plaintiff instituted this action, challenging the propriety of CNA’s handling of those claims. The matter is presently before the court on motion of the plaintiff, Glen Baker, seeking to compel CNA to respond to certain discovery requests. The court addresses each of the disputed areas of discovery accordingly.

I.

The principal matter in dispute is the discoverability, under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, of certain documents generated and maintained by CNA with respect to the malpractice claims advanced by Baker against CNA’s insured. CNA resists Baker’s attempt to discover the documents at issue upon the ground that those documents are protected from discovery by the attorney-client privilege and/or work product doctrine as encompassed in Fed.R. Civ.P. 26(b)(3).

After extensive briefing and oral argument by counsel for the parties, the documents at issue were produced by CNA, pursuant to court order, for in camera inspection. Having inspected the subject documents in camera, the court is prepared to rule upon the discoverability of those documents.

With the advent of “bad faith” litigation in the context of insurance, this court, in the exercise of the diversity jurisdiction granted it by 28 U.S.C. § 1332, has regularly been called upon to define the limits of protection which the attorney-client privilege and work product doctrine afford an insurance company with respect to the documents contained in a claims file. See, e.g., In re Bergeson, 112 F.R.D. 692 (D.Mont.1986); Silva v. Fire Insurance Exchange, 112 F.R.D. 699 (D.Mont.1986); see also, Lane v. All Nation Insurance Company, CV-86-54-GF (D.Mont. June 17, 1987) [1987 WL 49532]. In this court’s opinion, the principles which have evolved concerning the attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine in the discovery context apply with equal force in “bad faith” litigation as in all other civil litigation. A case by case application of those principles in actions involving claims of unfair claims settlement practices by liability insurers has proven to be somewhat of an arduous task, due to the simple fact that the ultimate determination as to the discoverability of the documents in dispute requires the court to undertake a detailed analysis of each particular document.

The scope of the protection afforded by the attorney-client privilege in the context of the case at bar, is determined by resort to state law. See, Fed.R.Evid. 501; Fed.R. Civ.P. 30(c). Montana has codified the attorney-client privilege in Mont.Code Ann. § 26-1-803 (1987) which provides:

[324]*324An attorney cannot, without the consent of his client, be examined as to any communication made by the client to him or his advice given thereon in the course of professional employment.

The foregoing statutory privilege represents a codification of the attorney-client privilege, existing in the common law, as it pertained to attempts to compel an attorney to divulge the substance of confidential communications made to him by his client. See, Piersky v. Hocking, 88 Mont. 358, 292 P. 725 (1930). This statutory privilege does not represent a codification of the entirety of the attorney-client privilege as recognized at the common law. The privilege, as evolved in the common law, also protected an individual from being compelled to disclose the substance of confidential communications made to an attorney for the purpose of obtaining professional advice. See, Cedrone v. Unity Savings Association, 103 F.R.D. 423, 426 (E.D.Penn.1984); IES v. Superior Court, 44 Cal.2d 559, 283 P.2d 700 (1955); Vilardi v. Vilardi, 200 Misc. 1043, 107 N.Y.S.2d 342 (1951); Fluty v. State, 224 Ind. 652, 71 N.E.2d 565 (1947); Ex parte Martin, 141 Ohio St. 87, 47 N.E.2d 388 (1943).

The legislature of the State of Montana has chosen to abrogate this latter facet of the attorney-client privilege, having determined that an individual civil litigant called as a witness may be compelled to disclose communications that individual has had with an attorney as they bear upon the litigation at hand. See, MontCode Ann. § 26-1-803 (1987). In that regard, the legislature has obviously decided that the disclosure of relevant evidence outweighs the importance of preserving a litigant’s right to invoke the privilege when called as a witness at trial. The position adopted by the Montana Legislature regarding the propriety of compelling a client to divulge the substance of communications made to an attorney, in confidence, is not universally accepted. See, e.g., CALIFORNIA EVIDENCE CODE, §§ 950 et seq.; ARIZONA REVISED STATUTES, § 13-4062(2); 42 PENNSYLVANIA CONS. STAT. ANNOTATED § 5928. Nonetheless, Fed.R.Evid. 501 compels this court to follow the law on privileges as established by the statutory and decisional law of the State of Montana. In that regard, the Montana Supreme Court has specifically held that the attorney-client privilege only applies statutorily in Montana to communications made by a client to his attorney and legal advice given in response thereto, during the course of professional employment. Kuiper v. District Court of the Eighth Judicial District, — Mont.-, 632 P.2d 694, 700-01 (1981). The privilege extends to written communications from an attorney to his client. Id.; see also, Kammerer v. Western Gear Corporation, 96 Wash.2d 416, 421, 635 P.2d 708, 711 (1981) (citing, Victor v. Fanning Starkey Company, 4 Wash. App. 920, 486 P.2d 323 (1971)).

The “work product” doctrine, the principle which recognizes that materials prepared by an attorney in anticipation of litigation should enjoy a qualified protection from discovery, has its origin in the Supreme Court’s decision in Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U.S. 495, 67 S.Ct. 385, 91 L.Ed. 451 (1947). The principle enunciated in Hickman was eventually incorporated into Fed. R.Civ.P.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Ward v. Nesibo
D. Utah, 2023
Guinnane v. Dobbins
D. Montana, 2020
Waldrop v. Discover Bank (In re Waldrop)
560 B.R. 806 (W.D. Oklahoma, 2016)
Cedell v. Farmers Insurance
295 P.3d 239 (Washington Supreme Court, 2013)
Cedell v. Farmers Ins. Co. of Washington
237 P.3d 309 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2010)
Cedell v. Farmers Insurance
157 Wash. App. 267 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2010)
Corporate Air v. Edwards Jet Center
2008 MT 283 (Montana Supreme Court, 2008)
Lexington Insurance v. Swanson
240 F.R.D. 662 (W.D. Washington, 2007)
Roehrs v. Minnesota Life Insurance
228 F.R.D. 642 (D. Arizona, 2005)
Barry v. USAA
989 P.2d 1172 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1999)
State ex rel. Allstate Insurance v. Gaughan
508 S.E.2d 75 (West Virginia Supreme Court, 1998)
STATE EX REL. ALLSTATE INS. v. Gaughan
508 S.E.2d 75 (West Virginia Supreme Court, 1998)
Dion v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance
185 F.R.D. 288 (D. Montana, 1998)
Ring v. Commercial Union Insurance
159 F.R.D. 653 (M.D. North Carolina, 1995)
Palmer v. Farmers Insurance Exchange
861 P.2d 895 (Montana Supreme Court, 1993)
CEH, Inc. v. FV "Seafarer" (On 675048)
148 F.R.D. 469 (D. Rhode Island, 1993)
First Wyoming Bank, N.A. v. Continental Insurance Co.
860 P.2d 1064 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
123 F.R.D. 322, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13052, 1988 WL 124058, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/baker-v-cna-insurance-mtd-1988.