Opinion ID: 333210
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: 'Available by Law in Litigation'

Text: 29 Thus far we have expressed the view that these documents are not within subsection (a)(2); in operational terms we have concluded that the Regional Office's 'final investigation reports,' with or without marginal notes, do not have to be indexed. We next consider whether, and how far, Exemption 5 shields these records from the purview of the general disclosure provision, subsection (a)(3). As we have already made clear, the reports contain analyses and recommendations that are protected by the executive privilege within Exemption 5. It does not necessarily follow, however, that the reports may be withheld in their entirety. We must determine whether they contain any 'reasonably segregable portion' that is not within any exemption. § 552(b). And it is now established that the executive privilege does not protect 'purely factual material appearing in (requested) documents in a form that is severable without compromising the private remainder of the documents.' EPA v. Mink, 410 U.S. 73, 91, 93 S.Ct. 827, 838, 35 L.Ed.2d 119, 134 (1973). If only executive privilege were claimed, it might be necessary to remand the cause for dissection and partial release of the reports. 24 30 But the Board's contentions are broader. We must 'construe Exemption 5 to exempt those documents, and only those documents, normally privileged in the civil discovery context,' Sears, 421 U.S. at 149, 95 S.Ct. at 1515, 44 L.Ed.2d at 46, and the Board relies on three distinct privileges here: the executive privilege, the attorney work product privilege, and (apparently) the so-called informer's privilege. 25 31 We can dispose of the problem at hand by applying the work product privilege alone. Apart from the Supreme Court's cautious discussion in Sears, this is a rather unexplored corner of FOIA law, and it is therefore necessary to deal with some basics. The fundamental principles, of course, come from Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U.S. 495, 67 S.Ct. 385, 91 L.Ed. 451 (1947), where the Court said, in part: 32 In performing his various duties, . . . it is essential that a lawyer work with a certain degree of privacy, free from unnecessary intrusion by opposing parties and their counsel. . . . Were (work product) materials open to opposing counsel on mere demand, much of what is now put down in writing would remain unwritten. An attorney's thoughts, heretofore inviolate, would not be his own. Inefficiency, unfairness and sharp practices would inevitably develop in the giving of legal advice and in the preparation of cases for trial. The effect on the legal profession would be demoralizing. And the interests of the clients and the cause of justice would be poorly served. 33 329 U.S. at 510--11, 67 S.Ct. at 393--394, 91 L.Ed. at 462. More concisely we have said that the rule is 'based on the public policy of preserving the independence of lawyers through the avoidance of unwarranted intrusion into their private files and mental processes.' Southern Ry. v. Lanham, 403 F.2d 119, 126 (C.A.5, 1968). And since the litigants before the Labor Board are legion, the evil of harassment    is correspondingly multiplied. The function of deciding controversies might soon be overwhelmed by the duty of answering questions about them. Davis v. Braswell Motor Freight Lines, Inc., 363 F.2d 600, 604 (C.A.5, 1966). 34 Of course, the fact that an agency document was written by a lawyer does not necessarily make it 'work product.' The executive branch of our government employs and uncountable and ever-growing number of attorneys, and the Act can hardly be understood as protecting everything they put on paper. In the federal courts the privilege may be invoked only for materials 'prepared in anticipation of litigation or for trial.' Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(b)(3). This is a phrase that must be interpreted with caution, and the case law affords relatively little guidance. 26 To say that the investigation reports in this case were prepared in anticipation of litigation is not without difficulties, because they were written at the very outset of the Regional Office's involvement in the case, before there had been any authoritative determination that the charges had substance. But there are weighty considerations on the other side. Where unfair labor practices are concerned, the Regional Office's basic function is to litigate. Moreover, Davis and Howard could not have known when they wrote their reports which cases Phillips would want dismissed. Their written evaluations of the evidence necessarily were founded on the assumption that any given charge might become enmeshed in litigation. Insofar as the privilege is meant to promote candid expressions of an attorney's theories and perspectives, it cannot properly be made to turn on whether litigation actually ensued. 27 Since 'the prospect of litigation (was) identifiable because of specific claims that (had) already arisen,' Stix Prods., Inc. v. United Merchants & Mfrs., Inc., 47 F.R.D. 334 (S.D.N.Y.1969), the reports are subject to a prima facie valid claim of privilege. These documents are quite different from the memoranda which were held disclosable (and thus, by implication, not work products) in Sears, because the latter were not composed until after an authoritative decision to dismiss had been reached. 35 In an ordinary civil suit we would next go on to consider whether the claim was outweighed by the opposing litigant's evidentiary needs, 28 but in an FOIA suit the plaintiff's needs cannot be considered, since all members of the public have equal rights under the Act. 29 Instead the question is whether any reasonably segregable portion of the documents remains after the parts protected by work-product policies are determined. In our view, even the factual matters in these reports (which might not be protected by executive privilege) are protected by the work-product privilege. Writing in contemplation of forthcoming unfair labor practice litigation, an attorney must be able not only to discuss doctrinal theories but also to 'assemble information, (and) sift what he considers to be the relevant from the irrelevatn facts' without feeling that he is working for his adversary at the same time. Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U.S. at 511, 67 S.Ct. at 393, 91 L.Ed. at 462. The feeling would be well justified if we allowed the FOIA to be used to force disclosure of such materials. 36 This case is a particularly strong one for recognizing the privilege. The contents of the reports are not primary information, such as verbatim witness testimony or objective data, but rather are mainly reports on how the Birmingham attorneys appraised the evidence they found. Thus the reports consist largely of 'mental impressions, conclusions, opinions, (and) legal theories' within the meaning of the Federal Rule. Such materials, if prepared in anticipation of litigation or for trial, are always protected by a properly-raised claim of work product privilege, regardless of the opposing litigant's need. 37 We do not hold that the 'Final Investigation Reports' of NLRB Regional Offices are always wholly within the attorney work-product privilege. In a closer case the District Court might be obliged to consider, possibly through in camera proceedings or the taking of extrinsic evidence, 30 whether any portions of the records could be disclosed without offending work-product rule policies. 31 But our examination of these documents convinces us that they are protected in their entirety by Exemption 5. Thus we have no occasion to pass on the government's alternative contention that the reports are within Exemption 7. 38 Reversed.