Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

Work Product Protection as Applicable Only to Parties and Inapplicable Even to Non-Parties Litigating a Related Action

From SEC v. Microtune, Inc., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 47091 (N.D. Tex. June 4, 2009) (dictum):

[Footnote 3] ... Under the plain language of Rule 26(b)(3), only a party can claim work product protection. See, e.g. FTC v. Grolier, 462 U.S. 19, 25, 103 S.Ct. 2209, 2213, 76 L.Ed.2d 387 (1983) (dictum); Tambourine Comercio International SA v. Solowsky, 312 Fed.Appx. 263, 284, 2009 WL 378644 at *16 (11th Cir. Feb. 17, 2009); Arkwright Mut. Ins. Co. v. National Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, 19 F.3d 1432 (Table), 1994 WL 58999 at *4 (6th Cir. 1994); In re California Public Utilities Com'n, 892 F.2d 778, 781 (9th Cir. 1989); In re Polypropylene Carpet Antitrust Litig., 181 F.R.D. 680, 691 (N.D. Ga. 1998); Gomez v. City of Nashua, 126 F.R.D. 432, 434 n.1 (D.N.H. 1989); Chaney v. Slack, 99 F.R.D. 531, 533 (S.D. Ga. 1983); Galambus v. Consolidated Freightways Corp., 64 F.R.D. 468, 473 (N.D. Ind. 1974). See also 8 C. Wright & A. Miller, FEDERAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE § 2024, at 354 (2d ed. 1994) ("Documents prepared for one who is not a party to the present suit are wholly unprotected by Rule 26(b)(3) even though the person may be a party to a closely related lawsuit in which he will be disadvantaged if he must disclose in the present suit.").

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