Court Affirms Ruling Compelling Discovery in Asbestos-Related Declaratory Action

NEW YORK -- A New York appellate court has affirmed a lower court ruling ordering the production of documents, rejecting efforts to protect the documents under the common interest privilege. Mt. McKinley Insurance Co., et al. v. Corning Inc., et al., No. 602454/02 (N.Y. Sup. Ct., App. Div., 1st Dept.).

In the two-page Oct. 12 decision, the 1st Department of the Appellate Division in the New York Supreme Court found that since there was "no reasonable expectation of confidentiality," the documents in question should be produced.

The underlying dispute arose out of a declaratory action in which Corning Inc. …