Aronson

Gary D. Aronson appeals a summary judgment on his defamation action against Kevin J. Kinsella. Aronson contends the court misapplied the standard for determining whether prelitigation statements are covered by the litigation privilege (Civ. Code, § 47, subd. (b)) and improperly ruled Kinsella had not waived the attorney-client and work product privileges. Kinsella also appeals, contending summary judgment should have been granted on the ground Aronson could prove no damages and therefore was libel-proof. We affirm.

Facts

In 1983, Kinsella formed the venture capital firm of Avalon Ventures (hereafter Avalon). Avalon was involved in the founding of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (hereafter Vertex) (in 1989) and GenPharm International (in 1988).

In May 1987, Avalon entered into a “letter agreement” with Aronson where Avalon agreed to assign one-third of any founders’ stock or warrants which Avalon received in new start-up companies and to reimburse Aron-son’s expenses for “any new start-up company that [Aronson] might bring to [Avalon] which [met] [Avalon’s] investment criteria,” providing Aronson originated the idea for the company and did “sufficient work to determine the…