Albert D. Seeno Construction Company v. Aspen Insurance UK Limited

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 ALBERT D. SEENO CONSTRUCTION Case No. 17-cv-03765-SI COMPANY, et al., 8 Plaintiffs, ORDER RE: DISCOVERY 9 v. Re: Dkt. No. 98 10

ASPEN INSURANCE UK LIMITED,

11 Defendant. 12 13 The parties dispute whether plaintiffs may take the deposition of Greg Schopf. Mr. Schopf 14 is an attorney who sent several letters on behalf of Aspen regarding two construction defect claims 15 that were tendered under plaintiffs’ policies. Plaintiffs assert that Mr. Schopf was acting as a claims 16 examiner when he sent the letters to plaintiffs’ insurance broker because Mr. Schopf investigated 17 coverage issues and announced Aspen’s position. Plaintiffs contend that the positions Mr. Schopf 18 took in the letters were unreasonable, and they wish to question Mr. Schopf about the basis for 19 various statements that he made in the letters. 20 Aspen describes Mr. Schopf as its coverage counsel, and contends that his communications 21 with Aspen are protected under the attorney-client privilege. Aspen does not contend…