Volkswagen of America, Inc. v. Superior Court

Are documents submitted to bankruptcy trusts by a plaintiff’s attorney in support of claims for compensation for alleged asbestos-related injuries discoverable in similar litigation against another entity? We conclude that most such documents normally are, and shall issue a writ of mandate to correct an overly restrictive discovery order entered in the trial court.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On December 10, 2003, real party in interest Buddy Rusk, Sr., filed suit against 67 named defendants, including petitioner Volkswagen of America, Inc. (Volkswagen), for injuries he allegedly suffered as a result of asbestos exposure. In April 2005 Volkswagen requested the production of “all documents^[ ] *3 [Rusk] submitted to a bankruptcy trust administering assets of’ any of 72 designated companies. Rusk objected on multiple grounds including that the requests invaded protected privacy interests. He produced no responsive documents. Volkswagen learned, however, that Rusk’s attorneys had submitted documents in the chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings of Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Company (Kaiser) and to a bankruptcy trust established to handle asbestos claims against…