Earlier this month, Magistrate Judge Gabriel Gorenstein denied Defendants World of Boxing (WOB) and Alexander Povetkin's Motion to Compel production of emails from Plaintiff Deontay Wilder's attorney John Wirt.
The Court held that the emails, all dated May 25, 2016, were attorney work product and therefore privileged communications that Wilder was entitled to withhold. The emails had been inadvertently produced to Defendants in the course of discovery, but when Defendants tried to use them as exhibits at deposition, Wilder's attorneys invoked the "claw back" provision of the protective order that the parties had agreed to.
The emails in question were either sent by Wirt, who was Wilder's representative in negotiations, or were sent in response to Wirt's email. Wirt's original email analyzed WOB's mid-May explanation for Povetkin's positive test for Meldonium and discussed possible responses to it. Because Wirt's email was prepared in anticipation of litigation and was discussed amongst Wilder's promoter and manager, the Court determined that these emails qualified as attorney work product and Wilder could withhold them. Thus, Defendants' Motion to Compel production was denied.
There are dueling summary judgment motions pending filed by each party that I've covered in previous articles here and here. The world awaits District Judge Andrew Carter's decision.
See Opinion below:
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