Roblox Corporation v. WowWee Group Limited

Background

Roblox challenged WowWee’s attorney-client privilege designations for three categories of documents. In an earlier order, the court required WowWee to submit documents from two categories for private judicial review and allowed both parties to provide additional briefing. After reviewing the documents and briefing, the court ruled on the privilege disputes and related sealing motions.

Documents Concerning Vivian Arellano

WowWee argued that documents involving Vivian Arellano were protected under the functional-employee doctrine. Arellano was hired in May 2021 as a contract designer to assist WowWee’s design team with early concepts and designs for the My Avastars fashion dolls. She worked under Sydney Wiseman, who was WowWee’s point person for the project and communicated legal advice from outside counsel to the design staff.

The court held that the submitted emails and attached images were not privileged. It did not need to decide whether Arellano qualified as a functional employee because, even if she did, the documents did not show confidential communications between attorneys and clients made to obtain legal advice. None of the emails included counsel, and WowWee did not establish that legal advice was sought from a professional legal adviser in that person’s legal capacity.

The court ordered WowWee to produce documents PL_001, PL_003, and PL_047 through PL_053 to Roblox.

Documents Involving Weber Shandwick, Interpublic Group, and Dave Malacrida

WowWee asserted privilege over documents involving Weber Shandwick and its parent company, Interpublic Group, as well as Dave Malacrida. WowWee stated that the public-relations firms were retained to assist outside counsel with public-relations issues related to threatened litigation, and that Malacrida consulted with counsel about the litigation’s legal implications for retailer communications and strategies.

The court explained that attorney-client privilege can extend to communications with third parties retained to help an attorney provide legal advice, but the third party must assist with legal advice rather than provide only ordinary business or public-relations advice. After reviewing the documents, the court found that Weber Shandwick was retained at least in part to provide legal advice and that the communications addressed litigation-related issues and strategy. WowWee therefore did not have to produce the documents in this category.

Sealing Motions

The court granted WowWee’s administrative motion to file certain documents under seal. It granted in part Roblox’s administrative motion concerning whether another party’s material should remain sealed. Exhibit B to Dkt. No. 205-3 was to be unsealed. Documents Dkt. Nos. 205-2, 205-4, 205-5, and 205-6 were to remain under seal.

Disposition

The order requires production of the nine Arellano-related documents, preserves the privilege designation for the documents involving Weber Shandwick, Interpublic Group, and Dave Malacrida, grants WowWee’s sealing motion, and grants in part Roblox’s sealing motion.