Hickman v. Taylor

Respondent sank the tugboat, while towing a car float across the Delaware River. Five of the nine crew members drowned. The tug owners and underwriters employed a law firm, of which Fortenbaugh is a member, to defend them against potential suits by representatives of deceased crew members and to sue the railroad for damages to the tug. Four of the survivors’ testimony was recorded and shortly thereafter, Fortenbaugh privately interviewed the survivors and took statements from them in anticipation of litigation. Four of the claims of the deceased were settled, while the fifth claimant brought suit in federal court under the Jones Act, naming as Respondents, the two tug owners, individually and as partners, and the railroad. Petitioner filed interrogatories, the thirty-eighth of which requested the statements of survivors of the incident, and supplemental interrogatories requested any oral or written statement, records, reports or other memorandum that had been made concerning any matter relevant to the incident. The Respondents answered all interrogatories except number thirty-eight and the supplemental interrogatories on the ground that the requests were for privileged matter obtained in the preparation of the litigation. The District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania held that the requested material was not privileged. Respondents refused to produce the material and the court adjudged them in contempt and ordered them to prison until they complied. The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed and held that the information was part of the work product of the lawyer and privileged from discovery. The Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari.