DEBRA COITO, Petitioner, v. THE SUPERIOR COURT OF STANISLAUS COUNTY, Respondent; STATE OF CALIFORNIA, Real Party in Interest., 54 Cal. 4th 480

Summary

The trial court concluded as a matter of law that the recorded witness interviews were entitled to absolute work product protection and that the other information sought was work product entitled to qualified protection. The court of appeal found work product protection inapplicable. In accordance with the policy set forth in Code Civ. Proc., § 2018.020, subd. (b), against opposing counsel taking undue advantage of an attorney's industry or efforts, the court held that the recorded witness statements were entitled as a matter of law to at least qualified work product protection under Code Civ. Proc., § 2018.030, subd. (b), because each statement was the product of counsel's initiative, decision, and effort to obtain it. Witness statements procured by an attorney were not automatically entitled as a matter of law to absolute work product protection under § 2018.030, subd. (a); rather, such protection required a foundational showing that disclosure would reveal an attorney's impressions,...