Opinion ID: 2071463
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Disposition in the Superior Court

Text: In determining whether the information sought was relevant to Brett's claims, the court ruled as a threshold matter that Brett did not have a private cause of action under the criminal statutes for offensive touching and sexual harassment. Instead, the court determined that her claim was one of intentional infliction of emotional distress. The Superior Court found that information concerning Berkowitz' alleged relations with other clients was relevant to the issue of whether he sought sex from Brett. Nevertheless, noting that the disclosure requested by Brett was unique in that it implicated the substantial privacy interests of third parties, the court denied the motion to compel on the ground that the discovery was neither admissible nor reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence. [3] At trial, the Superior Court excluded the testimony of plaintiff's legal malpractice expert, Neil Hurowitz, and consequently directed a verdict in favor of the defendants as to both legal malpractice claims. The jury ruled in favor of defendants on the intentional infliction of emotional distress claim.