Insights
Client Alert
The Ninth Circuit Offers Guidance on the Scope of Rule 26 Expert Discovery
February 12, 2014
BY JOHN P. PHILLIPS, SEAN D. UNGER & JOSE DE WIT
The Ninth Circuit issues an important new decision interpreting Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26 and expert discovery. The Ninth Circuit’s ruling clarifies the boundary between materials that are privileged and those that are subject to disclosure under Rule 26. Under the Ninth Circuit’s interpretation, the 2010 amendments to Rule 26 strike a balance between producing “any material considered by the expert, from whatever source, that contains factual ingredients” so that the opposing party may prepare for litigation, and excluding the “theories and mental impressions of counsel.”
