Southern California Edison Co. v. Super. Ct.

INTRODUCTION

California law protects the work product of attorneys and those assisting them in investigating facts related to providing a client legal advice. This case requires that we decide whether a client’s statutory obligation to publicly report certain events trumps the protection applicable to attorney work product generated during an internal investigation into facts concerning the reportable event. Real parties in interest (plaintiffs) are insurance companies that paid policyholders for losses resulting from a conflagration known as the Creek Fire. Plaintiffs claim an arc from the electric powerlines of Southern California Edison Company (SCE) caused the fire and have sued SCE under a subrogation theory to recover their payments to insureds. During discovery in the subrogation case, SCE withheld certain documents that it asserted were generated during an attorney initiated and directed internal investigation into the cause of the Creek Fire. Plaintiffs moved to compel, arguing the attorney-client privilege and attorney work product doctrine did not exempt these documents from production. Among other things, plaintiffs argued that SCE could not assert privilege and…