United States v. International Business Machines Corp.

62 F.R.D. 530, 18 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 537, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11966
District Court, S.D. New York·Decided March 6, 1974·No. No. 69 Civ. 200·Published·Cited by 35 cases

Opinion

OPINION

EDELSTEIN, Chief Judge:

Cravath, Swaine & Moore (Cravath), attorneys representing defendant, International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), moves “to intervene as a matter of right, nunc pro tunc, in this proceeding,1 and, upon intervention, to vacate this Court’s Adjudication of Contempt against . . .IBM dated August 1, 1973 . . . .”2 Additionally, IBM moves for the vacation of this court’s contempt adjudication on due process and equal protection grounds.

On August 1, 1973 this court held IBM in civil contempt for its continued failure to comply with Pretrial Order No. 5, which was entered on September 26, 1972. United States v. International Business Machines Corp., 60 F.R.D. 658 (S.D.N.Y.1973), appeal dismissed, 493 F.2d 112 (2d Cir., 1973), petition for cert, filed, 42 U.S.L.W. 3407 (U.S. Jan. 7, 1974) (No. 73-1065). Pretrial Order No. 5 directed IBM to furnish plaintiff with documents that it disclosed to Con-

[533]*533trol Data Corporation, but which it refused to turn over to the Government in the instant litigation. On July 16, 1973, Cravath, for the first time in this litigation, claimed an interest in the documents coveréd by Pretrial Order No. 5 independent of the previously asserted attorney-client privilege of IBM.3 As was set out in this court’s memorandum of January 4, 1974, Cravath, on July 16, 1973, submitted an order to show cause why it should not be permitted to intervene as a matter of right in the contempt proceeding, fifty minutes before the scheduled contempt hearing. The court refused to act on the order to show cause and on August 1, 1973 rendered its decision holding IBM in contempt. Thereafter, IBM and Cravath sought appellate review of the contempt order. On December 17, 1973 the court of appeals dismissed the appeal and denied the petition for mandamus. International Business Machines Corp. v. United States, 493 F.2d 112 (2d Cir. 1973) petition for cert. filed, 42 U.S.L. W. 3407 (U.S. Jan. 7, 1974) (No. 73-1065). The court of appeals found that ‘‘Cravath’s attempted intervention in the contempt proceeding” was not properly before it.4 On December 18, 1973, the court received a letter from counsel representing Cravath, which in relevant part stated:

In view of the December 17 decision of the Court of Appeals, in the above matter, we respectfully request that Your Honor indicate a date and time for a hearing on the intervention motion of Cravath, Swaine & Moore.

In its memorandum of January 4, 1974, the court refused to sign the previously tendered order to show cause, but stated that its decision was “not intended to prejudice the applicant’s right to bring on a motion to intervene in proper form.”

Thereafter, Cravath submitted . the instant motion. The motion must be denied for a number of reasons. First, for policy reasons a lawyer should not be permitted to intervene in an action to assert a work product claim. Secondly, under Fed.R.Civ.P. 24(a), which governs intervention as a matter of right, the instant application is defective in at 'least two respects: (a) it was untimely and (b) the applicant’s interest is adequately represented by an existing party.

[534]*534 It would be an unsound policy to allow attorneys to intervene in an action to protect a work product claim.Claims of work product can be adequately dealt with under the framework of Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(b) (3). If Cravath were permitted to intervene to assert its work product claim, an unfortunate precedent would be established. Complex cases would be shackled with yet another procedural roadblock. In a large case there are many instances in which a district judge must rule on discovery motions bearing on work product claims. Currently, rulings on such discovery orders are not appealable. But an order denying an application for intervention as of right is appealable since it excludes the applicant from participating in the litigation and is thus a final order as to him. 3B J. Moore ¶ 24.15, at 24-561. Consequently, to circumvent the usual nonappealability rule, attorneys asserting a work product claim may seek to intervene in order to secure otherwise unobtainable appellate review. Consequently, courts should discourage applications to intervene by attorneys asserting work product claims. Accordingly, there are sound policy reasons for denying Cravath’s motion.

Notwithstanding the policy rationale presented above, the Cravath motion to intervene could not withstand scrutiny under Rule 24(a)(2), which in pertinent part provides as follows:

Upon timely application anyone shall be permitted to intervene in an action: ... (2) when the applicant claims an interest relating to the property or transaction which is the subject of the action and he is so situated that the disposition of the action may as a practical matter impair or impede his ability to protect that interest, unless the applicant’s interest is adequately represented by existing parties.

For Cravath to satisfy the substantive requirements of Rule 24(a)(2) it must show (1) that it claims an interest in the documents covered by Pretrial Order No. 5; (2) that, as a practical matter, that interest may be impaired by the contempt proceeding; and (3) that IBM inadequately represents its asserted interest. Ionian Shipping Co. v. British Law Insurance Co., 426 F.2d 186, 189 (2d Cir. 1970). Additionally, under the prefatory language to Rule 24(a) it must demonstrate that its application for intervention was timely.

Cravath asserts that its intervenor’s pleading with respect to the contempt proceeding amply demonstrates that it satisfied each of the requirements for intervention of right.5 Additionally, [535]*535Cravath contends that its application was timely because it was filed as soon as it became necessary to intervene to protect its own interest — i. e., when the Government reversed its position on a plainly appealable contempt order.

The Government has controverted Only the adequacy of representation and timeliness elements. Consequently, for purposes of this opinion the court will assume arguendo that Cravath satisfies the other requirements of the four-pronged intervention test set out above.

Cravath contends that IBM cannot adequately represent its interest because of the contempt sanction (a fine of $150,000 per day) imposed by this court. It apparently argues that because of this contempt sanction, IBM may be forced to comply with Pretrial Order No. 5 without due regard for Cravath’s work product claims. On the other hand, the Government contends that Cravath’s interest is adequately represented by IBM for at least two reasons. First, it alleges that Cravath and IBM are represented by the same counsel — i. e., Simon H. Rifkind, Esq. From this it concludes :

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United States v. International Business Machines Corp., 62 F.R.D. 530, 18 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 537, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11966 (S.D.N.Y. 1974).

62 F.R.D. 530 (United States v. International Business Machines Corp.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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