Rheingold, R. v. AmGuard Ins. Co.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided September 16, 2026·No. 1123 MDA 2025·Published·Lane

Opinion

J-A15017-26 2026 PA Super 204

RON RHEINGOLD : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA

:

v. :

:

:

AMGUARD INSURANCE COMPANY :

:

Appellant : No. 1123 MDA 2025

Appeal from the Order Entered July 14, 2025 In the Court of Common Pleas of Luzerne County Civil Division at No(s):

202302763

BEFORE: KUNSELMAN, J., LANE, J., and FORD ELLIOTT, P.J.E.* OPINION BY LANE, J.: FILED: SEPTEMBER 16, 2026 AmGuard Insurance Company (“AmGuard”) appeals from the discovery order directing it to produce certain documents. We hold that AmGuard has failed to meet its burden of demonstrating, with sufficient analysis of the particular documents, that they are protected from disclosure under the attorney-client privilege attorney work product doctrine. Accordingly, we affirm.

We glean the following factual allegations from the complaint of the plaintiff, Ron Rheingold (“Rheingold”). AmGuard is a corporation with its principal place of business in Luzerne County, and does business in the State of California as a commercial automobile liability insurer. In January 2018, AmGuard issued a commercial automobile insurance policy to Reingold in California. Ten days thereafter, Rheingold was in a three-car collision and

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.

suffered serious bodily injury, including neck, back, and shoulder pain, as well as loss of earnings. “The driver who rear-ended Rheingold” had liability insurance coverage of $15,000 per injured person, and ultimately Rheingold settled his claims against this driver for $15,000. Complaint in Civil Action, 5/18/23, at ¶¶ 12, 25.

In August 2019, Rheingold, represented by counsel, made a policy demand on AmGuard for the full amount of his uninsured/underinsured motorist (“UIM”) benefit, $1,000,000. In December 2019, Rheingold “received notice that the law firm of Kennedy & Souza, APC would be representing AmGuard regarding the underinsurance matter.” Id. at ¶ 30 (unnecessary capitalization omitted). On the same day, Rheingold requested arbitration of his insurance claim. Fourteen months later, in March 2021, AmGuard offered Rheingold $100,000 to settle his UIM claim. In a brief filed in the arbitration process, AmGuard averred “that Rheingold’s injuries were ‘not causally connected’ to the [automobile] collision and that Rheingold’s medical expenses and loss of earnings and earning capacity were . . . exaggerated.” Id. at ¶ 50.

In July 2021, following a hearing, the arbitrator entered a final award to Rheingold of $985,000, representing his UIM policy limit less $15,000 paid by

the underinsured driver’s policy.1 The arbitrator also awarded attorneys’ fees and costs. A California court confirmed the arbitration award and entered judgment against AmGuard, and AmGuard has satisfied this judgment.

Subsequently, Rheingold filed the instant action in Luzerne County. He pleaded breach of contract and bad faith, averring that AmGuard: failed to “objectively and fairly . . . evaluate” his insurance claim; and failed to “promptly . . . offer payment of the reasonable and fair value of the claim.” Id. at ¶¶ 63-64. Rheingold also raised, in the alternative, a claim of bad faith under California law.

In discovery, Rheingold requested various documents to, inter alia, “seek information regarding . . . the company procedures for evaluating [UIM] claims, [whether they were] followed, who participated in AmGuard’s decision to value [his] UIM claim at [$100,000] and to reject the [$1,000,000] policy limits demand, and why.” Rheingold’s Motion to Compel AmGuard to File Amended Privilege Logs, 3/3/25, at ¶ 2. AmGuard responded and provided, inter alia, a four-page privilege log, setting forth a table of withheld documents. Pertinently, the last page indicated that it withheld 379 documents, which spanned more than 2,000 pages, pursuant to the attorney- client privilege and attorney work product doctrine. The log grouped these

1 According to Rheingold’s complaint, the arbitrator had also determined “that

the dollar value of the damages recoverable from the uninsured motorist, based upon the evidence submitted,” was $5,240,000. Complaint in Civil Action, 5/18/23, at ¶ 57.

documents into five rows. By way of example, the first row: encompassed 250 documents; indicated that they spanned 1,538 pages; described them as “email correspondence;” provided the “date” as “12/12/2019 – 08/01/2022;” and stated, under the heading, “Subject Matter,” “Communication and related attachments with outside counsel providing, requesting or reflecting legal advice regarding underlying action or in connection with the coverage dispute giving rise to this action.” Privilege Log at 4, Exh. 2 to Rheingold’s Brief in Support of Motion to Compel Discovery - Production of Documents, 9/9/24 (“Privilege Log”) (unnecessary capitalization omitted). The remaining four rows set forth these descriptions under “Subject Matter:” (1) “documents . . . prepared by outside counsel regarding coverage issues and legal strategy, including advise [sic] from outside coverage counsel;” (2) “documents pertaining to the retention, reserves for and/or payment of outside counsel;” (3) “documents and/or communication pertaining to the selection, rates, retention and/or payment of experts by outside counsel;” and (4) “internal documents and/or communication containing information prepared by, at the direction of, or on behalf of counsel in connection with the coverage dispute giving rise to this action.” Id. (unnecessary capitalization omitted).

Rheingold filed motions to compel AmGuard’s production of documents, as well as answers to interrogatories. AmGuard filed responses in opposition. Rheingold also filed a motion to compel AmGuard to file an amended privilege log, arguing the log: provided “only general descriptions of broad categories

of documents;” made “no effort to set forth information regarding anything other than the generic type of communication, i.e. email correspondence[,] fail[ed] completely to identify the author[,] recipients, or the dates of each communication;” and failed “to provide anything more than a cursory description of the subject matter of the general groups of communications.” Rheingold’s Motion to Compel AmGuard to File Amended Privilege Logs, 3/3/25, at ¶¶ 14-16. AmGuard filed a response, asserting that its privilege log was sufficiently detailed, and that it had provided more than 600 pages of non-privileged records.

The trial court appointed a special discovery master (the “discovery master”) and scheduled a hearing before him.2 Meanwhile, AmGuard filed a motion for the trial court to conduct in camera review of the withheld documents, to determine whether the attorney-client privilege and attorney work product doctrine apply. The court agreed to perform in camera review.

On July 2, 2025, the parties appeared before the discovery master on Rheingold’s motion to compel AmGuard to file an amended privilege log.3 Rheingold argued all of the following. AmGuard’s privilege log was “materially

2 The appointed discovery master was the Honorable Joseph Van Bura (Retired).

3 At this hearing, Rheingold stated that the trial court was separately considering an issue raised by AmGuard — “whether attorney-client privilege . . . is appropriate . . . with a [UIM] arbitration and subsequent bad faith case.” N.T., 7/2/25, at 3.

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