McAndrew v. Donegal Mutual Insurance

56 Pa. D. & C.4th 1, 2002 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 215
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lackawanna County
DecidedMay 17, 2002
Docketno. 99-CV-1761
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 56 Pa. D. & C.4th 1 (McAndrew v. Donegal Mutual Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lackawanna County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McAndrew v. Donegal Mutual Insurance, 56 Pa. D. & C.4th 1, 2002 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 215 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2002).

Opinion

NEALON, J.,

In this first-party bad faith litigation, defendant, Donegal Mutual Insurance Company, has submitted 2,577 documents for an in-camera review to determine whether certain materials are immune from discovery by virtue of the attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine. Since a bad faith claimant must prove an insurer’s state of mind in denying a claim, those documents pertaining to Donegal’s bases for denying plaintiff’s first-party benefits claim are not protected from discovery under Pa.R.C.P. 4003.3. Additionally, inasmuch as Donegal has asserted an “advice of counsel” defense with respect to certain allegations, it has waived the attorney-client privilege for those documents which relate to its supposed reliance upon its attorney’s recommendations in continuing to deny medical expense benefits. However, those records which contain confidential communications or mental impressions concerning the merits of the bad faith claim, pretrial strategy and trial tactics are not subject to discovery. Thus, for the reasons set forth below, plaintiff’s motion to compel supplemental discovery responses will be granted in part and denied in part.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On April 19,1997, plaintiff, Lawrence J. McAndrew, was involved in an automobile accident while he was [4]*4insured by Donegal under a policy that provided coverage for first-party medical expense benefits. On April 14,1999, McAndrew instituted this action after Donegal denied payment of medical bills for left shoulder treatment he had received from Eugene Chiavacci, M.D., beginning in October 1997. (See plaintiff’s complaint, ¶¶4-9, 14-18.) In his complaint, McAndrew asserts that Donegal breached its insurance contract by failing to pay medical expense benefits even though Dr. Chiavacci related the shoulder treatment to the accident, (id., ¶¶20-27), and he seeks to recover for unpaid bills, statutory interest, counsel fees and costs pursuant to 75 Pa.C.S. § 1716. (Id., ¶¶29-35.) McAndrew further avers that Donegal is chargeable with bad faith conduct under 42 Pa.C.S. §8371 for which he demands punitive damages and attorneys’ fees. (Id., ¶¶37-39.)

In its original and amended answers, Donegal contends that it is not contractually obligated to pay for any treatment related to McAndrew’s left shoulder since he did not injure his shoulder in the accident on April 19, 1997. Specifically, Donegal maintains that McAndrew merely complained of neck and head injuries during his emergency room visits on April 19,1997, and April 23, 1997, and did not seek medical attention for a shoulder condition until six months after the accident. In addition, Donegal asserts that in the “application for benefits” dated June 13, 1997, which Donegal received on August 12, 1997, McAndrew only identified “head + back injuries” attributable to the accident and did not indicate that he had injured his shoulder. (See defendant’s new matter, ¶¶40-43, exhibits A-C; defendant’s amended new matter, ¶¶40-42.)

[5]*5After McAndrew filed a certificate of readiness for a jury trial listing, this matter was eventually scheduled for trial in January 2002. Prior to that time, McAndrew withdrew his breach of contract claim and elected to proceed solely on his bad faith cause of action in a non-jury trial setting.1 (See plaintiff’s supplemental trial brief, pp. 1-3.) On the eve of trial, Donegal’s attorney submitted a petition for leave to withdraw as counsel and a request for a continuance of the bench trial which had been scheduled before Judge Vito P. Geroulo, and by orders dated January 14, 2002, Judge Geroulo granted the motion to withdraw as counsel, continued the trial to January 29, 2002, and directed Donegal to reimburse McAndrew for the fees and expenses incurred in preparing for trial on January 14, 2002.

New defense counsel entered his appearance on January 18, 2002, and a non-jury trial commenced on January 29,2002, at which time testimony was received from Donegal’s claim representative, claims supervisor and vice-president of casualty claims. (See transcript of proceedings on 1/29/02, pp. 3-231.) Donegal’s representatives testified that based upon their review of the police [6]*6report, McAndrew’s emergency room records and application for benefits, the available medical information, and other file materials, Donegal declined to pay any bills for treatment related to McAndrew’s left shoulder. (Id., pp. 62-63, 98, 171-72, 182, 184.) Although Donegal’s witnesses acknowledged that Donegal had a continuing obligation to investigate and evaluate McAndrew’s claim for medical expense benefits even after this litigation was filed, they asserted that they relied upon their legal counsel to apprise Donegal of any significant developments, including the deposition testimony of Dr. Chiavacci, which could affect its original decision to deny payment of shoulder care bills. (Id., pp. 124-25, 133-34, 195-97.)

At the conclusion of the first day of testimony, McAndrew’s attorney objected that all relevant documentation had not been produced by Donegal and Judge Geroulo directed counsel to meet to determine whether Donegal’s discovery responses had been properly supplemented. (Id., pp. 231-37.) On the following morning, McAndrew moved for a mistrial on the basis that Donegal had not produced all relevant records in its file, and Donegal countered that many of the documents at issue were not discoverable since they contained confidential attorney-client communications or mental impressions concerning the merits of the claim. After hearing the respective arguments of counsel, Judge Geroulo granted the request for a mistrial. (T.P. dated 1/30/02, pp. 4-36, 43, 52.)

In light of Donegal’s argument that the materials in question are exempt from discovery based upon the attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine, [7]*7Me Andrew’s counsel raised concerns regarding Judge Geroulo’s ability to review potentially privileged materials and to thereafter serve as the fact-finder during the retrial. (Id., pp. 11-12, 44, 48-49, 51.) Consequently, by order dated March 11, 2002, Donegal was directed to submit to the undersigned for an in-camera review “all records that may arguably be responsive to plaintiff’s discovery requests, including a privilege log identifying by page all records which are being produced, together with the bases for the privilege(s) asserted.” Donegal was also instructed to serve a copy of the privilege log upon McAndrew’s attorneys and both parties were afforded the opportunity to submit legal memoranda by March 22, 2002. The parties have filed their legal briefs and following an in-camera inspection of the documents submitted, this matter is now ripe for disposition.

II. DISCUSSION

(A) Standard of Review

Discovery is generally allowed with liberality in civil litigation, Schwab v. Milks, 8 D.&C.4th 557, 558 (Lacka. Cty. 1990), and any limitations or restrictions upon discovery are narrowly construed. Horwath v. Brownmiller, 51 D.&C.4th 33, 39 (Monroe Cty. 2001). All doubts regarding the discoverability of information should be resolved in favor of permitting discovery. Fitt v. General Motors Corp., 13 D.&C.4th 336, 338 (Lacka. Cty. 1992). Furthermore, the party objecting to the production of discovery generally bears the burden of establishing that the information or document sought is not discoverable [8]

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Bluebook (online)
56 Pa. D. & C.4th 1, 2002 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 215, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcandrew-v-donegal-mutual-insurance-pactcompllackaw-2002.