Source: http://co.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.20180307_0000287.DCO.htm/qx
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 19:05:59+00:00

Document:
FindACase | Corsentino v. Hub International Insurance Services, Inc.
Corsentino v. Hub International Insurance Services, Inc.
Scott T. Varholak United States Magistrate Judge.
This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiff Intervenors' Motion for a Protective Order to Prevent Defendant Travelers from Deposing Its Opponent's Counsel [#137] (the “Motion”). The Motion has been referred to this Court. [#139] This Court has carefully considered the Motion and related briefing, related oral argument held on November 27, 2017 [#167, 176], the entire case file and the applicable case law. For the following reasons, the Court GRANTS the Motion.
Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c)(1), “[t]he court may, for good cause, issue an order to protect a party or person from annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense.” The “good cause” standard of Rule 26(c) is “highly flexible, having been designed to accommodate all relevant interests as they arise.” Rohrbough v. Harris, 549 F.3d 1313, 1321 (10th Cir. 2008) (quotation omitted). The entry of a protective order “is left to the sound discretion of the district court.” Id. Generally, the party requesting a protective order “bears the burden to show that good cause exists for the issuance of a protective order.” O'Hare v. TRS Recovery Servs., Inc., No. 08-cv-01735-RPM-KLM, 2008 WL 5169519, at *2 (D. Colo. Dec. 9, 2008).
However, where, as here, a party seeks to depose an opposing party's attorney in the litigation, courts have required the party seeking the deposition to make a specific showing of need to justify the deposition. In Shelton v. American Motors Corporation, the Eighth Circuit held that the deposition of an opposing party's trial counsel should be limited to situations “where the party seeking to take the deposition has shown that (1) no other means exist to obtain the information than to depose opposing counsel; (2) the information sought is relevant and nonprivileged; and (3) the information is crucial to the preparation of the case.” 805 F.2d 1323, 1327 (8th Cir. 1986) (internal citation omitted). The Tenth Circuit has expressly approved and adopted the criteria set forth in Shelton. See Boughton v. Cotter Corp., 65 F.3d 823, 830 (10th Cir. 1995); Thiessen v. Gen. Elec. Capital Corp., 267 F.3d 1095, 1112 n.15 (10th Cir. 2001).
Travelers argues that the Shelton test is inapplicable to the facts of this matter, because Travelers seeks to depose Mr. Metier and Mr. Chupik with regard to the prior, underlying litigation between the Brockmans and Ms. Corsentino and not with regard to their involvement in the present case. [#145 at 7-9] In support of this argument, Travelers cites to a subsequent decision of the Eighth Circuit in which it held that the Shelton test “was not intended to provide heightened protection to attorneys who represented a client in a completed case and then also happened to represent that same client in a pending case where the information known only by the attorneys regarding the prior concluded case was crucial.” Pamida, Inc. v. E.S. Originals, Inc., 281 F.3d 726, 730 (8th Cir. 2002). The Eighth Circuit thus held that the party seeking to depose an opposing party's trial counsel in an indemnification case “need not satisfy Shelton to depose [the opposing party's] attorneys regarding information involving the concluded patent infringement case.” Id. at 730-731. Neither the Tenth Circuit nor any of the District Courts in this Circuit, however, have discussed let alone adopted the holding in Pamida.

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