Documents Prepared Prior to Tyco-ITT Industries Indemnification Battle Are Privileged, Court Says

NEW YORK - A federal judge has ruled that documents prepared prior to the filing of a lawsuit over an asbestos-related indemnification suit are not discoverable because they were developed in preparation for a lawsuit and are considered work product. Grinnell Corp., et al. v. ITT Industries, Inc., No. 98-4676 (S.D. N.Y.)

In a decision issued April 8, Judge Gerard E. Lynch of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York held that while the attorney who created the documents did so as an agent of one of the defendant's insurance companies, the company that hired him …