Farmers Ins. Group of Oregon v. Hansen

Plaintiff insurance company brought a declaratory judgment action, claiming that defendant insureds had caused a fire in March, 1977, that damaged their own home. After a jury trial and verdict for plaintiff establishing that defendants intentionally caused the fire, defendants appeal and assign as error the granting of a protective order denying their demand for pretrial discovery.

On January 29, 1979, defendant made demand upon plaintiff for discovery of documents and records and the identity of witnesses. At the same time, defendants by cover letter requested to depose plaintiff’s expert…