EEOC v. Sidley Austin Brown.

Filing 86

MOTION by Plaintiff Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to compel Deponent William White to Answer Questions Regarding his conversations with Sidley Management and for completion of his deposition (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Exhibit A# 2 Exhibit Exhibit B# 3 Exhibit Exhibit C# 4 Exhibit Exhibit D# 5 Exhibit Exhibit E# 6 Exhibit Exhibit F# 7 Exhibit Exhibit G)(Hamilton, Deborah)

EEOC v. Sidley Austin Brown.

Doc. 86 Att. 6

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MR. CONWAY:

You can answer that yes or no. What do you mean by legal

MR. HANNAFAN: advice? MR. CONWAY:

Right.

And he's a layperson.

So if you want, I can take him out in the hallway and talk to him about the conversation -MS. HAMILTON: Mr. Conway. You're not his lawyer,

So if you take him out in the

hallway, the court reporter and I will be there. MR. CONWAY: cut through it. MS. ELKIN: I'm just looking for a Way to But objection. She can lay a foundation as to

whether it's a proper objection. MR. CONWAY: She can do whatever she wants. She said she didn't want to

I made a suggestion. do it. MS. ELKIN: question. MR. CONWAY: question? MS. ELKIN: MR CONWAY:

He can answer the foundational

What was the foundational

Was he seeking legal advice. And I'm going to object to that

question on the basis of form and foundation. MS. ELKIN: But you're not instructing him

Dockets.Justia.com

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not to answer? MR. CONWAY: yes or no. No, I said he could answer it

I already said that on the record. I'm going to instruct him not

MR. HANNAFAN:

to answer unless you define for him what you mean by legal advice. BY MS. HAMILTON: Q. Mr. White, as you understand the term,

were you seeking legal advice from Mr. Miller? MR. HANNAFAN: Give him a definition or ask

him what he understands to be legal advice. That's easy. You've made your foundation.

So I'm going to instruct you not to answer until she wants to pop with the definition. MS. HAMILTON: Excuse me. Mr. Hannafan, if

Mr. White doesn't understand my question, he can let me know. BY THE WITNESS: A. I don't understand the question. There you go. Are you happy?

MR. HANNAFAN: BY MS. HAMILTON: Q.

Were you seeking advice from Mr. Miller

in his role as a lawyer regarding an issue of legal concern to you?

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A. Q.

No. Were you seeking legal assistance from

Mr. Miller at the time of that phone call? MR. HANNAFAN: BY MS. HAMILTON: Q. Mr. White, you've already testified Why don't you rephrase that?

that you were not seeking legal advice from Mr. Miller. A. Q. Right. Were you seeking legal assistance due

to any legal concern that you had at that time from Mr. Miller? MR. HANNAFAN: THE WITNESS: please? You can answer yes or no. Could you read that back to me,

I've lost my train of thought. As it's hard to maintain with

MS. HAMILTON:

all of these speaking objections. (WHEREUPON, said record was read by the reporter.) BY THE WITNESS: A. No.

BY MS. HAMILTON: Q. During that conversation, were you

asking Mr. Miller to serve as your attorney?

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A. Q.

No. Then I reiterate my question. What did

you tell Mr. Miller during that conversation? MR. HANNAFAN: Wait. I don't know if

Mr. Conway has an objection. MR. CONWAY: I am going to object on the At the

grounds of work product and privilege.

time, he was -- and again, I mean, I've offered a way to cut through this. I could have a private But we were

conversation with him in the hallway. offering legal advice.

Mr. Miller was acting as

counsel to the firm in connection with this matter. Having a conversation with Mr. White

about activities during the scope of his employment I think is privileged. And if I'm not

going to have an opportunity to talk with him and confirm outside your presence that it's not privileged, I'm going to instruct him not to answer or -MS. HAMILTON: I don't see how it could

possibly be privileged. MR. CONWAY: You know what, I'm sure that And I don't want to

you're saying that sincerely. waste time on this.

I've offered a way to cut

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through it. the hallway.

I can have a conversation with him in If it's not privileged, then I'll But you're not giving me that He doesn't So I --

let him testify. opportunity.

He's a layperson.

understand necessarily what was going on. so -BY MS. HAMILTON: Q.

Is it correct that at that time,

Mr. White, you were working for Sidley & Austin as a part-time hourly employee? A. Correct. Oh, no, that is not correct.

I was not an employee. Q. A. Q. As a part-time hourly contract worker. Correct. Other than the conversation that you

had with Mr. Miller regarding the article in the paper, did you have a conversation with -- other than the conversations with Mr. Miller and Mr. Bergen, did you have a conversation with anyone else regarding the article in the paper? A. Q. No. Is that the only conversation that you

had with Mr. Miller about the letter that's identified as Exhibit 14?