Oxy Resources California LLC v. Superior Court

Opinion

PARRILLI, J.

May parties negotiating a business transaction rely on a “joint defense agreement” as the basis for refusing to produce privileged documents exchanged long before they are actually sued by a third party? Ordinarily, a joint defense agreement protects privileged information shared by defendants after a lawsuit has been filed, including defense strategies. Here, the parties entered into a joint defense agreement before they finalized their negotiations, anticipating they might be sued. They now seek to protect from disclosure communications made during the course of the…