Williams v. Engen

OPINION

BRYNER, Justice.

I. INTRODUCTION

Alaska Civil Rule 27 gives a court limited powers to order production of evidence for a legal action that has not yet been filed. The rule has usually been read to allow early production only to preserve existing evidence — not to discover whether evidence exists. John Williams believed that he might have a claim for misrepresentation arising from a real estate transaction and wanted evidence to confirm his suspicions and identify the prospective defendant. Relying on Rule 27, Williams asked for an order compelling a mortgage company to produce a report,…