Premier Harvest et al v. AXIS Surplus Insurance Company et al

Filing 96

ORDER granting in part and denying in part Plaintiffs' 74 Motion to Compel signed by U.S. District Judge John C Coughenour. (TH)

THE HONORABLE JOHN C. COUGHENOUR

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT SEATTLE

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PREMIER HARVEST, LLC, a
Washington Limited Liability
Corporation, et al.,

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ORDER

Plaintiffs,
v.

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CASE NO. C17-0784-JCC

AXIS SURPLUS INSURANCE
COMPANY, et al.,
Defendants.

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This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiffs’ motion to compel production by
Defendant Axis Surplus Insurance Company (Dkt. No. 74). Having thoroughly considered the
parties’ briefing and the relevant record, and having conducted in camera review of the
documents at issue, the Court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part Plaintiffs’ motion. The
following six documents from Defendant’s privilege log are subject to the attorney-client
privilege and/or represent protected work-product and need not be produced: ASIC_CLM000143
– 000180, ASIC_CLM000713 – 000731, ASIC_CLM000809 – 000827, ASIC_CLM0001104 –
0001115, ASIC_CLM0001667 – 0001669, and ASIC_CLM0003135 – 0003136. (Dkt. No. 751.) The remaining documents at issue are communications associated with an insurance claim
investigation and, as such, are not shielded by the attorney-client privilege or the work-product

ORDER
C17-0784-JCC
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rule. (See Dkt. No. 58 at 3) (Court’s prior order indicating that “investigation of the justness of a

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claim . . . is part of Defendant’s business, even if fraud is suspected.”) Therefore, Defendant

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must produce these documents in unredacted form. Accordingly, Plaintiffs’ motion to compel

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(Dkt. No. 74) is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.

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DATED this 11th day of April 2018.

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John C. Coughenour
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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ORDER
C17-0784-JCC
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