Jarvis, Inc. v. American Telephone & Telegraph Co.

84 F.R.D. 286, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9122
CourtDistrict Court, D. Colorado
DecidedOctober 16, 1979
DocketCiv. A. No. 79-X-115
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 84 F.R.D. 286 (Jarvis, Inc. v. American Telephone & Telegraph Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jarvis, Inc. v. American Telephone & Telegraph Co., 84 F.R.D. 286, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9122 (D. Colo. 1979).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

SHERMAN G. FINESILVER, District Judge.

THIS CASE involves the operation of the attorney-client and work product privileges in the corporate setting. The matter is before the Court on the motion for order compelling discovery filed by movants on August 17, 1979. This Court has jurisdiction to entertain the motion pursuant to the provisions of Rule 37(a)(1), Fed.R.Civ.P. The Court has had the opportunity to review the briefs filed by the parties and the transcripts of the two evidentiary hearings. Upon careful consideration, the Court finds that the motion to compel is granted in part and denied in part.

I.

The movants are plaintiffs in an antitrust action presently pending in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Jarvis, Inc., et al. v. American Telephone and Telegraph Co., Inc., et al., 481 F.Supp. 120 (D.D.C.). Pursuant to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the movants noticed the deposition of James W. Kirchhoff, an employee of the Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Co., Inc. [hereinafter Mountain Bell]. Mr. Kirch[288]*288hoff was also asked to produce documents relating to the ComKey 718 and Com Key 1434 key telephone systems.

The movants sell and lease business tele-. phone terminal equipment in competition with the Bell System.1 Their complaint in Jarvis alleges violations of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act. The named defendants in Jarvis are American Telephone and Telegraph Co., Inc., [hereinafter AT&T], Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc., Western Electric Co., Inc., and Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Co., Inc. Mountain Bell is not a named party in Jarvis, but the complaint does refer to all of the individual operating companies in the Bell System as unnamed co-conspirators.

The deposition of Mountain Bell, by and through its employee Mr. Kirchhoff, was commenced on August 16, 1979. During the course of the deposition, Mr. Kirchhoff testified that from March 1978 until February 1979 his title was “Assistant Vice President — Antitrust Matters” [hereinafter VP-Antitrust]. As such, Mr. Kirchhoff, who is not an attorney, was charged with investigating alleged antitrust violations by Mountain Bell. He worked with and under the direction of Stuart S. Gunckel, Esq., Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Mountain Bell.

In his position as VP-Antitrust, Mr. Kirchhoff had between 10 and 20 persons working under his direction. This staff was not permanently assigned to him; he obtained their services on a full-time basis as he needed additional help. These staff persons were regular employees of Mountain Bell, and none were attorneys. Mr. Kirchhoff and the staff persons signed confidentiality agreements in connection with their antitrust work. Mr. Kirchhoff was officed with the Legal Department, while his staff worked out of an auditorium on the same floor.

Mr. Kirchhoff and his staff investigated some 150 alleged incidents involving Mountain Bell and antitrust matters. Mr. Kirchhoff received his assignments or leads of incidents to investigate mainly from the Legal Department of AT&T through Mr. Gunckel. Many of the alleged incidents came to light as a result of other antitrust suits pending against AT&T. The government’s answers to interrogatories in United States v. AT&T, 427 F.Supp. 57 (D.D.C.) were a prime source of incidents which Mr. Kirchhoff was asked to investigate.

Mr. Kirchhoff testified that he had very little information about each incident on which to proceed because the interrogatory answers were often quite brief and vague. Drawing upon his knowledge of Mountain Bell operations, he would suggest approaches for his staff. An investigation usually consisted of phone calls to persons within Mountain Bell who might have information about an incident. If the person called had no information, he was asked if he knew of any person who might possess such information. The investigations were thus carried out largely through knowledge of Mountain Bell operations and through use of a corporate phone directory. Indeed, Mr. Kirchhoff was selected for the position in part because of his extensive knowledge of Mountain Bell operations.

Mr. Kirchhoff was aided in his investigations by a letter issued by R. K. Timothy, President of Mountain Bell. The letter explained the purpose of Mr. Kirchhoff’s special task force and stated that he and Mr. Gunckel had “specific authority from me [Mr. Timothy] to enlist anyone’s participation in their work at any time and with minimal notice.” The letter, dated March 14, 1978, further noted that “In order to preserve the confidentiality and legal product which will result from the activities of this task force, the whole effort will be under the direct control and supervision of our attorneys.”

Upon completion of investigation of an incident, Mr. Kirchhoff or his staff wrote a [289]*289factual summary of what they thought had transpired.

During the course of Mr. Kirchhoff’s deposition, movants first became aware of his VP — Antitrust position, his investigations and the existence of similar positions in other Bell System companies. Movants endeavored to find out much from Mr. Kirchhoff during the deposition about his activities. However, counsel for Mountain Bell instructed him not to answer certain questions, claiming attorney-client and work product privileges. The matter now before the Court is a motion to compel answers to questions certified at Mr. Kirchhoff’s deposition.

II.

Before turning to the merits of this lawsuit, several observations must be made. As previously recognized, the Jarvis case is not before this Court or in this District. Indeed, not one of the over forty antitrust cases pending against AT&T and the Bell System has been filed in this District. This Court is hesitant to become, in effect, the “discovery court” for Jarvis or any of the other pending suits. This concern is heightened by the fact that each of the operating companies in the Bell System has or had a person in a position similar to the one occupied by Mr. Kirchhoff.

In recognition of these factors, it must be emphasized that the only matters presently before the Court are the questions certified at the deposition. These questions fall into six categories:

1. Specific allegations of conduct which Mr. Kirchhoff was asked to investigate;
2. Description of organization system for documents in United States v. AT&T;
3. Substance of Mr. Kirchhoff’s deposition testimony in Litton Systems, Inc. v. AT&T;
4. Three specific instances identified by Mr. Kirchhoff;
5. National meetings of Bell System lawyers and Mr. Kirchhoff’s antitrust-advisor counterparts in the other companies, and
6. Video tapes shown in Denver to Mr. Kirchhoff and his staff on antitrust information gathering.

These are the only areas of inquiry before the Court and they are before the Court in the form certified at the deposition. This Court cannot and will not broaden the scope of the inquiry in this proceeding, in spite of the expansive characterizations urged upon the Court by the parties.

III.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
84 F.R.D. 286, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9122, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jarvis-inc-v-american-telephone-telegraph-co-cod-1979.