Insurance Co. of North America v. Superior Court

Insurance Company of North America (INA), a casualty insurer, seeks a writ of prohibition against the superi- or court to preserve the confidentiality of its attorney-client communications against discovery by GAP Corporation (GAP). INA is a defendant in a superior court action brought by GAP against INA, INA Corporation, INA Financial Corporation, and others, seeking declaratory and other relief with respect to liability insurance coverage for asbestos-related claims.

In the INA group of affiliated companies, INA Corporation is the parent holding company, and INA Financial Corporation, Life Insurance Company of North America, and INA, are, directly or indirectly, wholly owned subsidiaries. The issue of attorney-client privilege arose under the following circumstances: Some 3,000 actions, 800 of them in Los Angeles County alone, are and have been pending against GAF and other manufacturers and commercial users of asbestos for damages for personal injuries assertedly the result of exposure of workers over substantial periods of time to asbestos fibers. From 1950 to 1975 INA was GAF’s products liability insurer, and as a consequence of this and similar coverage for others…