604 So. 2d 923 | Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | 1992
In this medical malpractice action, petitioner as plaintiff seeks a writ of certiorari to quash the trial court’s order permitting discovery. The trial court’s order allows limited discovery from Ms. Ellen J. Rie-back, the nurse retained by the plaintiff as a consultant for the presuit investigation process required by section 766.203, Florida Statutes (1991). We deny the petition, but explain our reasoning because the plaintiff is still entitled to protect work product and presuit screening information.
Ms. Rieback owns and operates a corporation named Medical Advisors, Inc., in Sunrise, Florida. She also does business through an entity named Rieback Medical-Legal Consultants. Through her businesses she assists in locating and hiring expert witnesses for both presuit investigation and trial preparation. While deposing Dr. Kenneth Hammerman, the plaintiff’s ex
At the deposition, the physician testified that he charged $150.00 per hour for reviewing materials in preparation for a deposition. The statement from Rieback Medical-Legal Consultants that was produced at the deposition, however, billed the defendant for the physician’s time spent in preparation for the deposition at the hourly rate of $250.00. When further questioned about the specifics of the financial arrangement between himself and Ms. Rieback, Dr. Hammerman equivocated in his responses. He did not recall the exact arrangement even though he had received the bulk of his cases from Ms. Rieback for the past five years.
Defense counsel sought to depose Ms. Rieback and attempted to subpoena certain documents for the purpose of obtaining information regarding the financial arrangement between Ms. Rieback and the physician and between Ms. Rieback and the plaintiff.
The plaintiff and amicus curiae contend that Grimshaw v. Schwegel, 572 So.2d 12 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990), prohibits all discovery of any kind from a consultant used in the presuit screening process. Grimshaw does not stand for such a broad proposition. The compelled discovery in Grimshaw was a letter that the testifying expert witness had reviewed in preparing for his deposition. The letter was not discoverable because it had been generated “by the presuit screening process” and was exempt from normal discovery under that statute which is currently section 766.106(5), Florida Statutes (1991).
The information sought by the defendant in this case is not necessarily protected by section 766.106(5) nor is it necessarily work product. It is important to emphasize that our limited record in this certiorari proceeding does not contain an affidavit or even an allegation that Dr. Hammerman performed any presuit screening in this case or in any other case involving Ms. Rieback. Thus, we cannot assume that any of the documents requested by the defendant were generated by the presuit screening process in this case or in any other case.
If some of these documents or even portions of these documents relate to the pre-suit screening process or to work product, that is a matter that can still be resolved under the trial court’s order. The trial court specifically prohibited inquiry into matters constituting any work product, which would include statements, discussions, written documents, or reports generated by the presuit screening process. See
Petition denied.
.The subpoena requests the following documents:
1. All bills received from Kenneth Hammer-man for the period 1986 through present.
2. Documents reflecting the case names and attorneys for all cases in which Medical Ad-visors consulted with Kenneth Hammerman.
3. All promotional articles, advertisements or brochures describing the services provided by Medical Advisors, Inc., including but not limited to services in providing expert witnesses.
4. All reports prepared by Kenneth Ham-merman in the above case.
5. All contracts with Kenneth Hammerman.
6. All bills for services provided by either Medical Advisors, Inc., or Kenneth Hammer-man relating to the above case.