McNulty v. Bally's Park Place, Inc.

120 F.R.D. 27, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2470, 1988 WL 35681
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 25, 1988
DocketCiv. A. No. 87-4728
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 120 F.R.D. 27 (McNulty v. Bally's Park Place, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McNulty v. Bally's Park Place, Inc., 120 F.R.D. 27, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2470, 1988 WL 35681 (E.D. Pa. 1988).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

VAN ANTWERPEN, District Judge.

This matter comes before the court on the plaintiff’s Motion to Compel Production of Documents. Specifically, the plaintiff is seeking: statements made by her to the defendant, its agent, employee or insurance carrier; a statement made by an eyewitness, Thomas John Mesman, to Nancy Johnson, an insurance adjuster for the plaintiff, on March 18,1986; and an opinion letter from the defendant’s outside counsel to the defendant, regarding the demarcation of property lines and maintenance responsibilities between the defendant and the municipality of Atlantic City.

With regard to that part of the plaintiff’s motion which seeks her own statements made to the defendant, its agent, employee or insurance carrier, the plaintiff is entitled to them. Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(b)(3) states in pertinent part: “A party may obtain without the required showing [of “substantial need” and “undue hardship”] a statement concerning the action or its subject matter previously made by that party.” In its Memorandum of Law in Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel, the defendant maintains that it has, in fact, produced all such statements to the plaintiff. If such is the case, then this part of the plaintiff’s motion is moot. If otherwise, however, the defendant is compelled, under the express language of Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(b)(3), to provide the plaintiff with her own statements.

With regard to that part of the plaintiff’s motion which seeks Mr. Mesman’s statement made to Ms. Johnson on March 18, 1986, the defendant raises the defense of the work product doctrine. Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(b)(3) also applies to this part of the plaintiff’s motion and the defense raised by the defendant. The rule states in pertinent part:

“Subject to the provisions of subdivision (b)(4) of this rule, a party may obtain discovery of documents and tangible things otherwise discoverable under subdivision (b)(1) of this rule and prepared in anticipation of litigation or for trial by or for another party or by or for that other party’s representative (including his attorney, consultant, surety, indemnitor, insurer, or agent) only upon a showing that the party seeking discovery has substantial need of the materials in the preparation of his case and that he is unable without undue hardship to obtain the substantial equivalent of the materials by other means____”

[29]*29As the court in Augenti v. Cappellini, 84 F.R.D. 73 (M.D.Pa.1979) has explained: “Traditionally, the work product of a lawyer in preparation for trial was not subject to discovery and Rule 26(b)(3) extends that immunity to work products not only of lawyers, but to documents prepared ‘by or for a party.’ In discussion of this Rule in Wright and Miller, Fed.Practice & Procedure (§ 2204, et seq.) it is pointed out that three requisites must exist to call the Rule into play:

1. The material must be documents and tangible things.
2. The material must have been prepared in anticipation of litigation, or for trial.
3. The material must have been prepared by or for a party or by or for the party’s representative.” (Emphasis in original).

Id. at 79.

In the instant case, the statement given by Mr. Mesman on March 18, 1986, was transcribed from his telephone conversation with Ms. Johnson and, thus, constitutes a document. When Ms. Johnson spoke with Mr. Mesman, she did so at a time when litigation over plaintiff’s fall was a possibility. On March 7, 1986, the plaintiff’s attorney had written to the defendant informing it that he represented the plaintiff in connection with “her claims for serious personal injuries and damages sustained as a result of an incident, which occurred on the above captioned date [2/14/86].” This letter stated that the attorney’s investigation of the incident and of the plaintiff’s injuries and damages “reveals that same were caused as the sole result of a negligent condition which you allowed to exist at the above location [Entrance at Garden Restaurant area].” The letter included a recommendation that the defendant forward the letter to its liability insurance carrier; if no such insurer existed, it was to “advise this office as to your intentions in this matter.”

Under these circumstances, it would be reasonable to conclude that Mr. Mes-man’s statement was taken “in anticipation of litigation.” “[I]f the prospect of litigation is identifiable because of specific claims that have already arisen, the fact that litigation is still a contingency at the time the document is prepared has not been held to render this doctrine inapplicable. Natta v. Hogan, 392 F.2d 686 (10th Cir. 1968)____” Congoleum Industries v. GAF Corp., 49 F.R.D. 82, 86 (E.D.Pa.1969), aff'd mem., 478 F.2d 1398 (3d Cir.1973). Furthermore, “[t]he anticipated litigation need not actually exist at the time of preparation, and preparatory work or work designed to preclude anticipated litigation may be protected. However, the privilege is not applicable unless some specific litigation is fairly foreseeable at the time the work product is prepared____” Resident Advisory Board v. Rizzo, 97 F.R.D. 749, 754 (E.D.Pa.1983). In the instant case, we believe that litigation over the plaintiff’s fall was “fairly foreseeable” at the time that Ms. Johnson took Mr. Mesman’s statement.

Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(b)(3) also requires that the material sought be prepared “by or for another party or by or for that other party’s representative.” In the instant case, the defendant has provided us with an affidavit signed by Dennis Venuti, Esquire, its Vice-President and General Counsel. That affidavit states that the defendant’s Assistant Vice-President in charge of Properties and Insurance is a member of the defendant’s Legal Department and reports directly to the General Counsel. In 1986, Bernard Solomon held that position. At Mr. Venuti’s direction, Mr. Solomon would forward investigation of negligence claims to its insurance adjusters. (One of the criteria for deciding whether or not to send a case to the adjuster was whether the defendant had been contacted by an attorney. The defendant believed that such contact indicated a reasonable likelihood of future litigation). Mr. Solomon forwarded this case involving the plaintiff to the insurance adjusters where Ms. Johnson performed the actual investigation. Ms. Johnson reported to Mr. Solomon.

In the circumstances outlined above, Ms. Johnson’s investigation was being conducted at the instigation and under the [30]*30guidance of the defendant’s Legal Department. It was, thus, “prepared ... for” the defendant.1

Although the defendant appears to have met all of the criteria required thus far to prevent discovery of Mr. Mesman’s statement, its defense under the work product doctrine must yet fail. Under Fed.R.Civ.P. 26

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Bluebook (online)
120 F.R.D. 27, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2470, 1988 WL 35681, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcnulty-v-ballys-park-place-inc-paed-1988.