In Hibbett Patient Care, LLC v. Pharmacists Mut. Ins. Co., No. CA 16–00231–WS–C, 2017 WL 4817992, at *1 (S.D. Ala. January 26, 2017) (Cassady, USMJ), the plaintiffs "bring three causes of action against PMIC, which include breach of contract, bad faith failure to investigate, and bad faith denial of a claim." The plaintiffs requested production of all writings concerning a certain lawyer's evaluation of claims for an insurance company, after the defendant insurance company apparently raised advice of this counsel as a defense.
The Magistrate Judge granted production but limited it to the case before the Court:
Request for Production No. 17
Plaintiffs’ Request for Production No. 17 asks Defendant to “produce all writings pertinent to [the lawyer in question] or his law firm’s evaluation of any Pharmacists Mutual claim” from the past ten years. (Doc. 36–1, ¶ 17).
Hibbett Patient Care, LLC v. Pharmacists Mut. Ins. Co., No. CA 16–00231–WS–C, 2017 WL 4817992, at *5 (S.D. Ala. January 26, 2017) (Cassady, USMJ).
The Court's well-reasoned ruling on production in response to this request for production, is well worth quoting:
Accordingly, the motion to compel is GRANTED to the extent that Defendant shall produce for inspection all writings pertinent to [the lawyer's] or his law firm's evaluation of claims involving Alabama insureds that were presented to PMIC within five years of the date of the evaluation that is relevant to this action. In addition, the evaluations and other writings responsive to this request are also limited to those involving policies of insurance that may be characterized as similar to the policy issued to the Plaintiffs.
Therefore, the motion to compel with regard to Request for Production No. 17 is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART. The production of information is limited to similar policies of insurance written to Alabama residents that were presented within five years prior to the evaluation by [the lawyer] that is relevant to this action.
Hibbett Patient Care, LLC v. Pharmacists Mut. Ins. Co., No. CA 16–00231–WS–C, 2017 WL 4817992, at *6 (S.D. Ala. January 26, 2017) (Cassady, USMJ).
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