Fitzpatrick v. Superior Court CA1/4
Plaintiff Dennis Fitzpatrick sued Union Pacific Railroad Company (Union Pacific), alleging that he suffered personal injuries caused by exposure to asbestos and other toxic chemicals while working for Union Pacific’s predecessor. Fitzpatrick moved to compel Union Pacific to produce documents that Fitzpatrick authored or received when he worked as a legal consultant for its predecessor company. All of these documents, according to Union Pacific, are protected from disclosure under the attorney-client privilege and work product doctrine. The trial court, in an apparent attempt to reach a middle ground, declined to address whether the documents are privileged, and instead ruled that they must be disclosed to Fitzpatrick for the limited purpose of allowing him to review them prior to his deposition, but not retain them.
Neither party was satisfied.
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