Bankruptcy Judge Rules Documents Protected under Common Interest Doctrine

WILMINGTON, Del. -- A judge presiding over asbestos defendant Leslie Controls Inc.'s bankruptcy proceedings has found that 26 documents are protected from discovery, rejecting efforts by two insurance companies to view the correspondence, which discussed available insurance coverage. In re: Leslie Controls Inc., No. 10-12199 (U.S. Bankr. Ct., D. Del.).

In a Sept. 21 letter written by Judge Christopher S. Sontchi of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, the court concluded that the parties' common goal of maximizing the asset pool invoked the common interest doctrine.

In its letter, the court addressed a discovery dispute between …