Black Rock Truck Group, Inc. v. Tarasiewicz
- Philip Halpern
- 7:19-cv-02367
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Black Rock Truck Group v. Tarasiewicz, Judge Davison resolved discovery disputes about confidentiality, document searches, and privilege.
Black Rock Truck Group, Inc., the defendants, their counsel, and the handling of the specified emails and documents.
What happened
In Black Rock Truck Group, Inc. v. Tarasiewicz, the court addressed discovery disputes raised in counsel’s letters and reviewed nine emails privately at the plaintiff’s request.
The court overruled the defendants’ objection to the plaintiff’s initial designation of its email production as “Attorney’s Eyes Only.” It also allowed defense counsel to show certain documents to defendants only in counsel’s presence, without copies or notes, and overruled the plaintiff’s objection to searching Everett Freeman’s emails.
Judge Davison sustained the plaintiff’s privilege claims for the nine reviewed emails, finding that communications with Lonestar Truck Group qualified for an employee-related exception and that an email forwarded to Candelario Bryant remained protected as attorney work product.
The detailed version
- Black Rock Truck Group, Inc. v. Tarasiewicz · No. 7:19-cv-02367
- Philip Halpern
- Aug. 13, 2020
Background
After a July 29, 2020 hearing, the court ruled on discovery disputes described in counsel’s June 30 and July 7 letters. The court had also directed the plaintiff’s counsel to submit certain emails for private judicial review, and counsel did so on July 30.
Rulings
1. Attorney’s Eyes Only designation. The court overruled the defendants’ objection to the plaintiff’s initial wholesale designation of its email production as “Attorney’s Eyes Only.” Based substantially on the plaintiff’s stated reasons, the court found that the procedure would promote the speedy and inexpensive determination of the action.
2. Limits on access to documents. Defense counsel could disclose the “Profit Analysis Sheets” and “Full Runs” to defendants only while counsel was present. Defendants could not make or keep copies or retain notes about those documents.
3. Everett Freeman’s emails. The court overruled the plaintiff’s objection to searching Freeman’s emails and producing responsive documents.
4. Privilege claims. The court sustained the plaintiff’s privilege claims for all nine emails submitted for private review. For communications with Lonestar Truck Group, the court found that the plaintiff had shown a contractual relationship sufficient to support an employee-related exception to waiver of the attorney-client privilege. For the email forwarded to Candelario Bryant, the court found that the communication was attorney work product—a category of material prepared because of legal proceedings—and remained privileged despite being disclosed to a family member.
Disposition
The order resolved the listed discovery disputes by overruling or sustaining the specified objections and imposing the stated restrictions on access to two document categories. It did not state that the underlying action was dismissed or otherwise enter a final merits judgment.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.