Sonja A. Nuic

The plaintiff successfully moved for an order to compel production of records and permit questioning from a non-party assessment company and its retained doctor, overcoming a claim of litigation privilege.

This endorsement addresses the costs of that successful motion.

The court awarded the plaintiff partial indemnity costs in the amount of $16,877.92, finding the motion involved important and complex issues, and that the time spent by the plaintiff's counsel was reasonable and not excessive, despite the defendants' arguments regarding proportionality and necessity of certain steps.

The plaintiff sought an order to compel production of records from a non-party assessment company, HVE Healthcare Assessments, and its retained expert, Dr. Joel Finkelstein, and to permit questioning of HVE.

The plaintiff argued that litigation privilege should yield to the principle of fairness, citing a reasonable suspicion that HVE improperly influenced Dr. Finkelstein's report, particularly concerning the summarization of surveillance evidence and the delayed disclosure of a conflicting expert report.

The court found a factual foundation for this suspicion, noting inconsistencies and the defendants' refusal to answer questions regarding HVE's involvement.

The court ordered the defendants to produce all relevant records from HVE and Dr. Finkelstein, excluding solicitor-client privileged communications, as these were deemed foundational documents not protected by litigation privilege under the circumstances.

The defendants were also ordered to pay the plaintiff's costs.