In re RDM Sports Group, Inc., et al. v. Equitex, Inc., et al.

William G. Hays (plaintiff) was the trustee in a bankruptcy proceeding. Hays sued the law firm of Smith, Gambrell and Russell L.P., David J. Harris P.C., and David J. Harris individually (collectively, SGR) (defendants), alleging that they contributed to the financial ruin of RDM Sports, Inc., and other parties (debtors). Hays also sued General Electric, contending that it sold the debtors defective equipment, and Arthur Andersen, who had provided accounting and auditing services to the debtors. Hays’s claims against General Electric and Andersen were settled after mediations. Subsequently, SGR moved to compel the disclosure of numerous documents related to those mediations. The mediation documents fell into four categories: (1) Tab C, which consisted of a mediation brief prepared by Hays’s attorney for the General Electric mediation that discussed the merits of Hays’s case; (2) Tab B-1, which consisted of two memoranda related to the Andersen case prepared by Hays’s attorney, one of which was given to the mediator only and the other given to both the mediator and Andersen; (3) Tab B-2, which consisted of slides prepared for the Andersen mediation; and (4) Tab A, which consisted of various letters, work papers, and exhibits and had previously been provided to SGR. Hays asserted that a federal mediation privilege should protect documents and communications prepared for or made during mediation.