Court Orders Insurer’s Handwritten Notes Discoverable Despite Work-Product Doctrine
Posted on Apr 25, 2015 in Energy/Environmental, Investigations, Litigation, Product Liability | Comments Off on Court Orders Insurer’s Handwritten Notes Discoverable Despite Work-Product Doctrine
Last week, a Maine court took up a discovery fight regarding certain claim and underwriting files maintained by an oil and gas company’s insurer with respect to multi-forum MTBE litigation. The oil and gas company contended that as a result of the more than 60 MTBE lawsuits filed against it, the company incurred significant unreimbursed expenses in connection with the...
Federal Court Weighs Trade Secret Concerns With Discovery Goals In Tire Blowout Case
Posted on Apr 23, 2015 in Investigations, Product Liability, Transportation | Comments Off on Federal Court Weighs Trade Secret Concerns With Discovery Goals In Tire Blowout Case
In a products liability tire blowout case, the parties entered into an agreed protective order protecting the disclosure and use of confidential information. The parties disagreed on whether to include a sharing provision and the court rejected the plaintiffs’ request for a sharing provision that would allow the plaintiffs to share designated confidential information with other...
NTSB Issues Safety Recommendations To PHMSA On Crude By Rail Issues
Posted on Apr 6, 2015 in Energy/Environmental, Investigations, Transportation | Comments Off on NTSB Issues Safety Recommendations To PHMSA On Crude By Rail Issues
On Friday, the National Transportation Safety Board issued a 10-page Safety Recommendation to the Acting Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. The NTSB derived the recommendations from its investigations of the recent derailments of crude-carrying trains in West Virginia, Illinois, and Ontario. The letter, which can be accessed here, requests...
Review Confidentiality Agreements For Potential Whistleblower Stifling
Posted on Apr 2, 2015 in Investigations, Litigation | Comments Off on Review Confidentiality Agreements For Potential Whistleblower Stifling
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced yesterday its first enforcement action against a company using alleged improperly restrictive language in confidentiality agreements with the potential to prevent the whistleblowing process. The SEC charged a company with violating the whistleblower protections of Rule 21F-17, enacted under the Dodd-Frank Act, for requiring employees in...
Internal Investigation Report Ruled Not Privileged Despite In-House Counsel’s Involvement
Posted on Mar 31, 2015 in Investigations, Process Safety | Comments Off on Internal Investigation Report Ruled Not Privileged Despite In-House Counsel’s Involvement
In litigation stemming from a worker’s injuries suffered at a chemical manufacturing facility in Louisiana, one defendant sought the “Root Cause Investigation Report” prepared by the defendant chemical company. Earlier this month, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana ordered that the report be produced over the chemical company’s...
PHMSA Issues Changes To Pipeline Safety Regulations
Posted on Mar 11, 2015 in Energy/Environmental, Investigations | Comments Off on PHMSA Issues Changes To Pipeline Safety Regulations
Earlier today, the U.S. Department of Transportation (through PHMSA) issued changes to certain pipeline safety regulations including the performance of post-construction inspections, leak surveys of Type B onshore gas gathering lines, qualifying plastic pipe joiners, regulation of ethanol, transportation of pipe, filing of offshore pipeline condition reports, and the calculation of...
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