Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Production of defense counsel's "non-discoverable work product" ordered as a sanction for "poor judgment" in interviewing plaintiff's former Canadian

Defense counsel was ordered to produce interview notes of meetings with plaintiff's former Canadian attorney as a sanction for "the poor judgment exercised by [defendant's] attorneys in eliciting [the information reflected in the notes]." "It was [defense] counsel’s duty not to solicit, either directly or indirectly, privileged information from [plaintiffs' former counsel] . . . " Thus, although the notes were "properly classified as non-discoverable work product," production of the notes was "warranted as a sanction" because of "the conduct of [defendant's] counsel in dealing with [the plaintiff's] former-now-adverse attorney."

Mass Engineered Design, Inc., v. Ergotron, Inc., 2-06-cv-00272 (TXED October 31, 2008, Memorandum and Opinion and Order)

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