Cold Metal Process Co. v. Aluminum Co.

7 F.R.D. 425, 74 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 337, 1947 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1693
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Ohio
DecidedFebruary 1, 1947
DocketCivil Action No. 23997
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 7 F.R.D. 425 (Cold Metal Process Co. v. Aluminum Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cold Metal Process Co. v. Aluminum Co., 7 F.R.D. 425, 74 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 337, 1947 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1693 (N.D. Ohio 1947).

Opinion

WILKIN, District Judge.

The motion of the defendant filed December 10, 1946, is sustained. A reading of the deposition of Dr. Sachs does not reveal sufficient grounds for his refusal to testify. The witness must either show that the testimony sought is privileged or he must answer the questions.

The situation revealed by this motion does not come within the ruling in Hickman v. Taylor, 3 Cir., 153 F.2d 212, 223. While in that case the court indicates that the word “privileged" as used in the Rules (Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, rules 26, 33, 34, 28 U.S.C.A. following section 723c) extended the exemption to situations other than those covered by the rule of testimonial exclusion, it did not make clear what those "other situations” are. In that case the word “privilege” as used in the Rules was held to comprehend "memoranda of talks with witnesses, signed statements made by witnesses, the lawyer’s recollection of talks with witnesses.” It appears that in that case the interrogatory was seeking information and opinion obtained by or in the possession of the lawyer. In this case the questions are directed to a third party not a lawyer or a doctor or a priest, within the meaning of- “privileged communications.” Dr. Sachs is not a Doctor of Medicine, and the information which he has has not been shown to be a confidential communication to him from the client.

This court understands the purpose of the Rule as stated in the opinion in the Hickman case (2, 3) and (4, 5). Nothing appears in the record before the court to show that the examination of Dr. Sachs transcends the purpose of the rule, and it is to be noted that the opinion in the Hickman case, after quoting from the opinion of the District Court [4 F.R.D. 479], stated:

“Insofar as the remarks of the learned District Court apply to Rule 34, they went too far. Insofar as they apply to Rule 26 and Rule 33, they are approved.” 153 F.2d 216.

The -proceeding in the instant case is under Rule 26 and therefore the ruling of the District Court in the Hickman case would apply.

On Application to Compel Answers to Questions.

This case is here a second time on an application of the defendant for an order to compel the witness George Sachs to answer questions put to him in connection [427]*427with the taking of his deposition. The case is pending in the United States District Court, Northern Division of the Eastern District of Tennessee. In accordance with notice duly served, the defendant attempted to take the deposition of Sachs on November 8, 1946. On advice of counsel for plaintiff the witness refused to answer certain questions and this court was appealed to in accordance with the Rules of Civil Procedure for an order compelling the witness to answer. On the 1st day of February, 1947, this court ruled that the deposition did not reveal sufficient grounds for the witness’s refusal and that therefore the motion would be sustained and the witness ordered to answer.

A second attempt was then made to take Sachs’s deposition and after a few preliminary questions were answered, the witness again, on advice of counsel for plaintiff, refused to answer. Counsel for plaintiff then, over the objection of counsel for defendant, proceeded to ask the witness certain questions which, together with his answers, revealed that he had been employed by counsel for plaintiff to examine certain specimens.

Counsel and the witness then came again to this court. Counsel for defendant requested an order directing the witness to answer, or a citation for contempt, and counsel for plaintiff requested a ruling by the court that the witness, in view of the additional showing in the deposition as to his employment, was within the rule governing privileged communications and witnesses.

The witness is a metallurgist, a member of the faculty of Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland, and an expert in X-ray metallography. He was engaged by Mr. Webb of counsel for plaintiff to make certain tests and X-ray photographs of samples of metal sent to him by the plaintiff on order of Mr. Webb. Sachs was informed that Mr. Webb wished information in connection with his preparation of cases involving the patent claims of the plaintiff.

The case turns on an application of the principles announced in Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U.S. 495, 67 S.Ct. 385, 395. Counsel for plaintiff say in their reply brief:

“So that there may be no misunderstanding of our position, we state as we have stated before, that the information here sought does not come strictly within the attorney-client privilege, but does come strictly within the rule laid down by the Supreme Court in the Hickman case protecting the ‘work product of the lawyer’ from the preliminary investigations of opposing counsel as a matter of sound public policy.”

Counsel for defendant also rely on the decision in the Hickman case and quote sentences and paragraphs of the opinion to support their contention that the information sought in this case does not come within the privilege. In the Hickman case the attorney himself was being examined. In this case the witness is an expert employed by the attorney. It is quite clear that the Supreme Court, while extending the privilege to the attorney in that case, did not establish a rule which would protect attorneys or their assistants in all cases. The opinion said:

“It is a problem that rests on what has been one of the most hazy frontiers of the discovery process”.
The court says it is a matter that must be left to the sound discretion of the judge and indicates clearly that where “necessity” or “justification” are shown, “discovery may properly be had.”

In order to meet the requirements announced in the Hickman case, counsel for the defendant point out that the information sought is essential to one of the vital issues of the case and that there is no other way or place to obtain the information. The pending suit in Tennessee involves U. S. Patent 1,744,016, and the, defendant charges that such patent is invalid. It quotes paragraph 40 of the answer as follows:

“40. Defendant avers, on information and belief, that plaintiff, its attorneys, officers and agents, have known or have had reasonable cause to know, now and for many years past, that the statements made by Abram P. Steckel, the alleged inventor, the applicant and plaintiff’s officer and agent, regarding a new manufacture embodying random orientation in United States Patent No. 1,744,016, were and are, [428]*428in whole or in part, untrue; that despite said knowledge, or reasonable cause for said knowledge, plaintiff has unreasonably neglected or delayed the filing of a disclaimer of the claims relating to said new manufacture embodying the alleged random orientation and the production thereof, and it has therefore failed to comply with the requirements of the disclaimer statute (R.S. 4917 [35 U.S.C.A. § 65]); and that therefore the said Patent No. 1,744,016 is wholly invalid and void.”

It is admitted here, as it was in the Hickman case, “that the memoranda, statements and mental impressions in issue in this case fall outside of the scope of the • attorney-client privilege and hence are not protected from discovery on that basis.

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

Related

Franks v. National Dairy Products Corp.
41 F.R.D. 234 (W.D. Texas, 1966)
United States v. 23.76 Acres of Land
32 F.R.D. 593 (D. Maryland, 1963)
Maginnis v. Westinghouse Electric Corporation
207 F. Supp. 739 (E.D. Louisiana, 1962)
State Ex Rel. Willey v. Whitman
370 P.2d 273 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1962)
Ford Motor Company v. Havee
123 So. 2d 572 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1960)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
7 F.R.D. 425, 74 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 337, 1947 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1693, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cold-metal-process-co-v-aluminum-co-ohnd-1947.