THE TOWN CENTER @ BOCA RATON TRUST; SIMON PROPERTY GROUP, L.P. AND SAKS FIFTH AVENUE, INC., PETITIONERS,
v.
CAROLYN HIROKAWA, RESPONDENT
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The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed a trial court's order compelling production of mall security and police reports in a negligent security case, finding the trial court failed to conduct the required in-camera inspection before overruling work-product objections.
The trial court erred by rejecting work-product objections outright without conducting an in-camera inspection as required by precedent. The court must conduct an in-camera inspection, and only if work product is found may the respondent proceed by demonstrating need and inability to obtain equivalent materials by other means.
[1] A trial court must make findings regarding whether requested materials were prepared in anticipation of litigation or in the ordinary course of business before compelling…
[2] A party's objection to a discovery request is not waived by that party subsequently serving a discovery request for the same items.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Certiorari lies to review trial court orders compelling production of discovery claimed to be privileged or otherwise protected as work product or attorney-client, as this would present the potential of a departure from the essential requirements of law which would cause material harm for which there is no adequate remedy on final appeal.”
Establishes the availability of certiorari review for improper disclosure of privileged work product
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceA plaintiff filed a negligent security claim against the town center and mall operators. The respondent requested production of mall security reports,…
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PER CURIAM.
Petitioners seek certiorari review of the trial court’s order overruling, in part, their work-product objections to requests for production and giving them thirty (30) days to comply. We grant the petition and quash the trial court’s order. Respondent, the plaintiff in a negligent security claim, requested production of mall security reports and police reports detailing criminal activity at the mall and reports detailing the incident in question. Petitioners objected to the request for production. In support of their objection, petitioners submitted an affidavit of Darin Grigg, the manager of the mall, in which he alleged that the reports were made pursuant to the policies and procedure manual for the mall, in anticipation of litigation. After a hearing on the petitioner’s work-product objections, the trial court overruled the objections without explanation.
In Snyder v. Value Rent-A-Car, 736 So. 2d 780 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999), this court held:
Certiorari lies to review trial court orders compelling production of discovery claimed to be privileged or otherwise protected as work product or attorney-client, as this would present the potential of a departure from the essential requirements of law which would cause material harm for which there is no adequate remedy on final appeal. See Allstate Ins. Co. v. Langston, 655 So. 2d 91 (Fla.1995); Martin-Johnson, Inc. v. Savage, 509 So. 2d 1097 (Fla.1987); Coyne v. Schwartz, Gold, Cohen, Zakarin & Kotler, P.A., 715 So. 2d 1021 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998).
Id. at 781. The Snyder court further discussed Florida Rule of Civil of Procedure 1.280, which governs discovery, including requests for items which are work product, namely documents and tangible things prepared in anticipation of litigation. The rule explains that the items may be obtained only upon a showing that the party seeking discovery “has need of the materials in the preparation of the case and is unable without undue hardship to obtain the substantial equivalent of the materials by other means.” Id. at 781-82.
In Snyder, we held that when work product and attorney-client privileges are asserted, the trial court must hold an in-camera inspection of the discovery material at issue in order to rule on the applicability of the privilege. In the present ease, the trial court rejected the objection outright without holding an in-camera inspection of the discovery material, as required by Snyder. We therefore grant the petition, quash the trial court’s order, and remand for an in-camera inspection of the materials sought to be obtained by the respondent. If, at the conclusion of the in-camera inspection, the trial court determines the reports contain work product, then the respondent shall have the burden of demonstrating that she “has need of the materials in the preparation of the case and is unable without undue hardship to obtain the substantial equivalent of the materials by other means.” See Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.280(b)(3).
CERTIORARI GRANTED.
DELL, STONE, and FARMER, JJ„ concur.
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Bette Lee Erstling Gardner v. Manor Care OF Boca Raton, Inc., 831 So. 2d 676 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002)…of work-product information due to a trial court order which departs from the essential requirements of law, thereby causing material harm for which there is no adequate remedy on final appeal. See, e.g., Town Center @ Boca Raton Trust v. Hirokawa, 789 So. 2d 1230 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001). Although Gardner may have established the necessary irreparable harm in this case, we hold that the trial court’s order does not constitute a departure from the essential requirements of the law. The main case relied on by pet…
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The City OF Port ST. Lucie v. Vallerie Follano, 177 So. 3d 301 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015)…. The court can then consider whether the material is discoverable under Rule 1.280. Id. at 782; see also Lloyd’s Underwriters at London v. El-Ad Villagio Condo. Ass’n, 976 So. 2d 28, 29 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008); Town Ctr. @ Boca Raton Trust v. Hirokawa, 789 So. 2d 1230, 1231-32 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001).1 The trial court in this case departed from the essential requirements of law by failing to conduct an in camera review before determining that the City’s photographs were discoverable under Rule 1.280. Such a review i…
Authorities Cited
- Martin-Johnson, Inc. v. Savage, 509 So. 2d 1097 (Fla. 1987)
- Allstate Ins. Co. v. Langston, 655 So. 2d 91 (Fla. 1995)
- Snyder v. Value Rent-A-Car, 736 So. 2d 780 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999)
- Coyne v. Schwartz, 715 So. 2d 1021 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998)