PHOENIX (Legal Newsline) – The judge overseeing more than 200,000 cases over 3M’s military ear plugs will decide whether a client-gathering website will need to turn over its records.
The Dec. 15 decision by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation is in line with requests made by the website Top Class Actions and the plaintiffs lawyers leading the ear plug MDL in Pensacola, Fla.
Earlier this year, 3M asked a federal judge in Phoenix to compel Top Class Actions to comply with its discovery requests but the JPML found the MDL judge is a more appropriate decider.
“Requiring a judge in the District of Arizona to familiarize himself with the particulars of MDL No. 2885 would not promote the just and efficient conduct of this action or the litigation as a whole…” the order says.
Contact forms on TCA put readers in touch with a service to connect with plaintiffs lawyers. TCA says its communications with possible plaintiffs are protected by attorney-client privilege, despite the fact that it is not actually a law firm.
TCA’s site contains attorney advertising and articles written by TCA writers. Some pages have contact forms for potential clients whose information is passed on to firms that bought the ads.
The terms say “it is intended that the information will be protected by attorney-client privilege, but it is possible that Top Class Actions or such attorneys may be ordered by a court of law to produce such information in certain legal situations.”
TCA says attorney-client privilege applies to the records sought by 3M – that potential plaintiffs had a strong expectation their communications would be privileged.
3M’s original subpoena sought:
-Documents related to submissions to TCA’s website;
-Documents relating to the advertising directed to prospective plaintiffs;
-Communications between plaintiffs firms and TCA relating to prospective plaintiffs;
-Documents relating to the referral of prospective plaintiffs; and
-Documents regarding any financial interest or ownership any plaintiffs law firm has in TCA.