A Tragedy And A Work Product Issue

A nine year old child was served a peanut butter cookie on a field trip and died as a result of an allergic reaction. The school district immediately retained counsel, who conducted an investigation of the incident. After the family had settled the resulting claim, a newspaper sought access to information concerning the matter under laws that provide access to public records. The Supreme Court of Washington held that:

“the vast majority of the documents at issue here are protected
from disclosure because they are handwritten notes or memoranda about witness
interviews created by the legal team, making them protected work product.  Three
additional documents are protected work product created by the legal team, even
though they are not handwritten notes from witness interviews.   The remaining
documents involve  privileged  communications between the attorneys and their
clients.”

A concurring and dissenting opinion note a strong public policy argument in favor of disclosure of the documents at issue. (Mike Frisch)