Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. v. Nissan Computer Corp.

ORDER GRANTING IN PART PLAINTIFFS’ EX PARTE APPLICATION

This matter comes before the Court on the plaintiffs’ ex parte application for an order: (1) compelling Neil Greenstein (“Greenstein”), counsel for the defendant Nissan Computer Corporation (“NCC”), to state whether any conversations with counsel for plaintiffs have been recorded; and (2) prohibiting counsel for NCC from recording any such conversations in the future. After reviewing and considering the materials submitted by the parties, and hearing oral argument, the Court adopts the following order.

I. Factual Background

The issue of whether Greenstein has tape-recorded conversations with counsel for the plaintiffs Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and Nissan North American Inc. (collectively “Nissan”) first arose in June 2000. At that time, a conflict emerged during a failed mediation attempt regarding what the parties had said during earlier telephone calls concerning their respective positions on settlement. (Schindler Decl. ¶ 4.) Greenstein accused David Schindler (“Schindler”), counsel for Nissan and a partner at the law firm of Latham & Watkins, of misrepresenting what had been said during a prior telephone conversation.…