Opinion ID: 6356993
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Drafts of January 2016 DACF Letter

Text: [¶ 19] Dubois and Fedder assert that the court erred by concluding that the work product privilege shielded from FOAA disclosure the drafts of the letter that, in final form, DACF sent to Dubois Livestock in January of 2016. The drafts were circulated for review and comment among several DEP and DACF employees and the assistant attorneys general who represented those agencies in connection with the investigations into Dubois Livestock. [¶ 20] The contents of the drafts, which remain sealed pursuant to the court's order, plainly demonstrate that both the drafts and the resulting final version of the letter were created in anticipation of litigation and that the drafts are fully protected from FOAA access because they contain attorneys' mental impressions, conclusions, opinions, or legal theories concerning the prospective litigation. [¶ 21] As the court found, with support in the record, DACF reasonably anticipated litigation with Dubois Livestock as early as May of 2015, and that anticipation continued throughout the time the letter-which concerned the matters being investigated-was being drafted. Given these circumstances, the court did not err when it concluded that the drafts comprised work product material and were not subject to any exception to that privilege. See M.R. Civ. P. 26(b)(3). [¶ 22] Dubois and Fedder argue that any anticipation of litigation was not reasonable because DACF had not completed the procedural steps necessary to bring an enforcement action. As a predicate to concluding an investigation into a complaint involving a farm, DACF's administrative rules require the agency to make a determination and render findings and any recommendations prescribing best management practices, and in some situations the Commissioner is required to send a written report to the Attorney General. See 1 C.M.R. 01 001 010-3 § 3(5) (2007); 7 M.R.S. § 158 (2017). Even though those regulatory steps had not yet been completed when Randall sent the letter, the circumstances demonstrate that the letter was drafted when there existed a reasonable anticipation that litigation would occur. See Springfield Terminal , 2000 ME 126 , ¶ 16, 754 A.2d 353 . [¶ 23] Dubois and Fedder also argue that the work product privilege was waived because DACF collaborated on the drafts with DEP employees and assistant attorneys general representing DEP. 8 A  party waives the work product protection by disclosing the material in a way inconsistent with keeping it from an adversary. U.S. v. Mass. Inst. of Tech ., 129 F.3d 681 , 687 (1st Cir. 1997). Here, as the court found, DACF and DEP coordinated their investigations into Dubois Livestock's operations because the two agencies had overlapping regulatory and enforcement interests. They coordinated their efforts in consultation with their attorneys, and OAG did not disclose the drafts of the letter in a way that would expose that material to an adversary. Therefore, neither DACF nor its attorneys waived the work product privilege by consulting with DEP and its attorneys. See id.