Transamerica Life Insurance v. Moore

274 F.R.D. 602, 79 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1415, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65999, 2011 WL 2463760
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Kentucky
DecidedJune 17, 2011
DocketCivil Action No. 10-14-DCR
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 274 F.R.D. 602 (Transamerica Life Insurance v. Moore) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Transamerica Life Insurance v. Moore, 274 F.R.D. 602, 79 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1415, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65999, 2011 WL 2463760 (E.D. Ky. 2011).

Opinion

ORDER

EDWARD B. ATKINS, United States Magistrate Judge.

This matter is before the undersigned on Defendants’ Motion to Compel Discovery [R. 38]. Plaintiff has filed a Response [R. 50] and Defendants have filed a Reply [R. 51]. Having been fully briefed, this matter is ripe for consideration. For the reasons discussed below, Defendants’ Motion to Compel [R. 38] shall be GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.

I. BACKGROUND

In April 2010, Plaintiff Transamerica Life Insurance Company (“Transamerica”) filed a declaratory judgment action to resolve an ongoing dispute between it and Defendants Nancy and Archie Moore (the “Moores”)1 over Transamerica’s obligation to pay certain claims under a benefit policy purchased by the Moores [R. 1]. Defendants’ Counterclaim alleges bad faith, fraud, civil conspiracy, and various other claims arising out of Plaintiffs 2006 reduction in benefits to its policy owners [R. 9]. The controversy centers around the meaning of the term “actual charges” as it relates to the charges incurred for medical services by Nancy Moore for her cancer treatments and other issues related to the billing and payment practices of claims [R. 1; R. 9].

On May 12, 2011, at the request of counsel, this matter came for a telephonic conference, during which counsel discussed various discovery requests in dispute [R. 35]. The parties failed to reach an agreement. Pursuant to Court Order [R. 35], Defendants filed a Motion to Compel [R. 38] requesting an order compelling production of six specific categories of documents, discussed below in detail as they appear in the motion. In its Response, Plaintiff objects to Defendants’ requests, arguing that the discovery sought attempts to invade privileged communications and seeks burdensome and irrelevant discovery. [R. 50].

II. DISCUSSION

1. Jorden Burt Report & The Gwin Charts

Defendants seek production of the “Jorden Burt Report,” identified on Plaintiffs privilege log, and the charts prepared by Stephen Gwin, also identified on Plaintiffs privilege log. Defendants argue that the report at issue is not covered by the law of privilege or the work product doctrine. Alternatively, Defendants claim that the Report and Charts are discoverable under the crime-fraud exception or pursuant to waiver of privilege. For the reasons discussed below, Defendants’ request -will be denied because it seeks privileged communications.

[606]*606 A. Relevant Factual Background

Prior to 2006, Plaintiff paid unlimited benefits to insured covered by its supplemental insurance policies. In 2004, Plaintiff realized that insureds were submitting documents which indicated “list prices,” rather than the actual amounts charged and paid, in support of “proof of loss” as required by the policy at issue. This resulted in the company overpaying ‘actual charges,’ as well as steep premium increases for policy holders. Plaintiff then created what is referred to as the “DSI Claims Taskforce,” which included individuals from financial, actuarial, claims, and legal departments, to undertake a comprehensive review of its supplemental cancer policies.

In May 2004, Assistance General Counsel Mark Edwards consulted with several law firms regarding the litigation risks associated with potential revisions of the policy. [R. 50-1, Edwards Declaration ]. In October 2004, foreseeing “a real likelihood of litigation from the actions being considered to correct the claims practices and procedures,” Plaintiff retained the law firm of Jorden Burt to provide legal advice and litigation risk analysis about the prospective changes to the policy. [R. 50-1; R. 50-2, Leventhal Declaration ].

In April 2005, Jorden Burt completed what is referred to by the parties as the “Jorden Burt Report.” The Report, written entirely by Jorden Burt attorneys, allegedly contains legal research, litigation risk analysis, analysis of financial materials, and mental impressions of counsel related to the potential policy revisions. Additionally, it contains several charts, referred to by the parties as the “Gwin Charts,” created by Plaintiffs in-house actuary Stephen Gwin in December 2004 at the request of Jorden Burt attorneys. [R. 50].

B. Application of the Attorney-Client Privilege

The attorney-client privilege protects confidential communications between an attorney or his representative and his client or client’s representative made for the purpose of obtaining legal advice. See Upjohn Co. v. United States, 449 U.S. 383, 389, 101 S.Ct. 677, 66 L.Ed.2d 584 (1981); Static Control Components, Inc. v. Lexmark Int’l, Inc., 2007 WL 902273, *3 (E.D.Ky.2007) (internal citations omitted); Reed v. Baxter, 134 F.3d 351, 355-56 (6th Cir.1998). See also St. Luke Hospitals, Inc. v. Kopowski, 160 S.W.3d 771, 776 (Ky.2005) (“the attorney-client privilege attaches to a confidential communication made to facilitate the client in his/her legal dilemma”). Under Kentucky law, “[a] communication is ‘confidential’ if not intended to be disclosed to third persons other than those to whom disclosure is made in furtherance of the rendition of professional legal services to the client or those reasonably necessary for the transmission of the communication.” St. Luke Hospitals, 160 S.W.3d at 776 (citing Kentucky Rule of Evidence 503(a)). Privileged communications “are not discoverable even when the information is essential to the underlying case and cannot be obtained from another source.” Id. at 777.

The Jorden Burt Report and the Gwin Charts are protected by the attorney-client privilege. First, the report was commissioned by Plaintiff, “the client,” from Jorden Burt LLC, “the lawyer.” The purpose of the report was to provide legal advise regarding Transamerica’s potential changes to its claims processing, as well as analyze the potential legal implications of those changes. The Gwin Charts, commissioned by the attorneys to aid in the creation of the report, were used for the same purposes as the Report — legal advice. These communications (the Report) were strictly confidential and between the attorneys and the client and its representatives. Accordingly, the communications at issue are protected by the attorney-client privilege and not discoverable unless waived or subject to an exception.2

C. Waiver and the Crime Fraud Exception

Although Defendants argue otherwise, waiver is inapplicable. The Jorden [607]*607Burt Report was limited to key management-level personnel. Each recipient signed a numbered copy of the Report and the Report has never been disseminated otherwise. The attorney-client protection is waived “by voluntary disclosure of private communications to third parties.” New Phoenix Sunrise Carp. v. C.I.R., 408 Fed.Appx. 908, 919 (6th Cir.2010) (internal citations omitted). There is no indication that Transamerica waived privilege by disclosing the private communications at issue.

The privilege is implicitly

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Bluebook (online)
274 F.R.D. 602, 79 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1415, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65999, 2011 WL 2463760, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/transamerica-life-insurance-v-moore-kyed-2011.