gov.uscourts.nysd.447706.441.0.pdf

Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 441 Filed 09/21/16 Page 1 of 18 United States District Court Southern District of New York V irginiaL .Giu ffre, P laintiff, C ase N o. :15-cv-0 7 433-RW S v. Ghislaine M ax well, D efend ant. ________________________________/ PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR COURT APPROVAL OF PLAINTIFF’S CERTIFICATION OF PRODUCTION P laintiff,V irginiaGiu ffre,byand throu ghheru nd ersigned cou nsel,hereby files this M otion for C ou rtA pprovalof M s.Giu ffre’s C ertification of P rod u ction and states as follows. I. INTRODUCTION O n M ay 3,2016,M s.Giu ffre satthrou ghafu lld ay of d eposition. .A s the C ou rtknows,M s.Giu ffre also agreed to sitforasecond d eposition,bu trequ ested certain limitations from the C ou rt. 1  Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 441 Filed 09/21/16 Page 2 of 18 . M s.Giu ffre d oes notwantto d elay the trialin this matter,and wants to move forward withher second d eposition. Therefore,M s.Giu ffre comes before the C ou rtnow to requ estthe C ou rt’s approvalof her certification. II. LEGAL ARGUMENT In this single cou ntd efamation case,d efend ant’s d iscoveryrequ ests inclu d ed incred iblybroad requ ests forM s.Giu ffre’s med icalrecord s and pharmaceu ticalrecord s spanning her entire lifetime. Forex ample,D efend ant’s requ estforprod u ction 26 seeks,withou tanytime limitation:“A lld ocu ments concerninganyprescription d ru gs taken byY ou ,inclu d ingthe prescribingd octor,the d ates ofsaid prescription,and the d ates of anyfu lfillmentof anysu chprescription. ”The C ou rtlimited the requ ests atA pril21,2016 hearing: TH E C O URT:...The med icalrecord s of the period ‘99 to 20 02 willbe prod u ced and the plaintiff willind icate whetherthatprod u ction is complete or,if itisn’tcomplete,when it willbe complete.A s forthe pre-’99 med icalrecord s,based on where we are atthe moment, Id o notbelieve thatthose are relevant.B ecau se the d amage issu e relates,in my view, solely to the d efamation.If thatchanges in any way,Iwillrevisitthatissu e. See M cC awley D ec.atE x hibit1,A pril21,210 6 H r.Tr.at20.D efend ant’s interrogatories were also incred ibly broad ,d emand ingthatM s.Giu ffre listall“pre”and “post”d efamation physicians she has everseen and alld etails relatingthereto -this wou ld also inclu d e allped iatric record s from birth: “Id entify any H ealthC are P rovid erfrom who Y ou received any treatmentforany physical, 2  Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 441 Filed 09/21/16 Page 3 of 18 mentaloremotionalcond ition,inclu d ingad d iction to alcohol,prescription orillegald ru gs thatY ou su ffered from priorto the A lleged D efamation by Ghislaine M ax well,inclu d ing: a.the H ealthC are P rovid er’s name,ad d ress and telephone nu mber; b.the type of consu ltation,ex amination ortreatmentprovid ed ; c.the d ates Y ou received consu ltation,ex amination ortreatment; d .whethersu chtreatmentwas on an in-patientorou tof patientbasis; e.the med icalex penses to d ate; f.whetherhealthinsu rance orsome otherperson ororganization orentity has paid forthe med icalex penses;and g.Foreachsu chH ealthC are P rovid er,please ex ecu te the med icaland mentalhealth record s release attached hereto as E x hibitA . See M cC awley D ec.atEx hibit2,D efend ant’s Interrogatory 13.This requ estis notlimited in time and covers alifetime of med icalinformation byits bread th. P u rsu antto this C ou rt’s A pril21,2016,ru lingM s.Giu ffre has mad e significantefforts to try to trackd own and collectany med icalrecord she can find from 1999 to the present,inclu d ingpayingall fees associated withthatcollection process. D efend ant’s d emand s forrecord s reachfarbeyond what cou ld reasonably be contemplated as relating to this action,to the pointof absu rd ity.Forex ample, D efend antd emand ed (and received )M s.Giu ffre’s med icalinformation concerningeverythingfrom – d espite the factthatthose med icalrecord s have nothingto withthe harm to M s.Giu ffre from D efend ant’s d efamation. In this case M s.Giu ffre has prod u ced over9,000 pages of d ocu ments,inclu d ingru nningover 200 search terms overherelectronic d ata,and send ing letterrequ ests orreleases to over30 entities. The below listid entifies the med icalprovid ers from whom M s.Giu ffre sou ghtrecord s d etailingwhat efforts were employed to obtain the record s: 3 Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 441 Filed 09/21/16 Page 4 of 18 4  Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 441 Filed 09/21/16 Page 5 of 18 1 In ad d ition,cou nselforM s.Giu ffre mad e mu ltiple phone calls to potentialmed icalrecord s cu stod ians in an attemptto locate .These efforts were u nsu ccessfu l. 2 5 Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 441 Filed 09/21/16 Page 6 of 18 6  Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 441 Filed 09/21/16 Page 7 of 18 D iscovery in this case closed on J u ly 31,2016. M s.Giu ffre has nevertheless continu ed to attemptto collectrecord s from avarietyof d octors and facilities as requ ested by D efend ant. D espite M s.Giu ffre and herattorneys’bu rd ensome and time-consu mingefforts to collecther med icalrecord s,some med icalprovid ers eitherhave notrespond ed to the requ estorhave d iscontinu ed their practice rend ering the record s u nreachable. M s.Giu ffre wants to ensu re thatshe can move forward to trialon D ecember12,2016,as setforthby the C ou rt,and wou ld like to move forward with hersecond d eposition;however,D efend antis rejectingM s.Giu ffre’s attemptto certify herprod u ction in accord ance with the C ou rt’s ord erbecau se there are med icalprovid ers who have yetto prod u ce irrelevantrecord s.See M cC awleyD ec.atExhibit3,September16,2016 correspond ence. A. Employment Records: D efend antalso complains thatM s.Giu ffre has notprod u ced allof heremploymentrecord s,bu t this claim is withou tmerit. Itis noteworthy thatM s.Giu ffre revised herRu le 26 d isclosu res backin J u ne,and is no longer seeking any damages relating to lost employment income.D espite thatfact,M s. Giu ffre continu ed to collectherirrelevantemploymentrecord s based on D efend ant’s d emand s. M s. Giu ffre has prod u ced allherelectronic d ocu ments relatingto employment.A d d itionally,M s.Giu ffre has sentrequ ests forrecord s and releases to every employer(and even one non-employer)requ ested by D efend ant. For ex ample,u pon D efend ant’s requ est,M s.Giu ffre ex ecu ted a release and requ est for record s from over fou r months ago,on M ay 9,20 16.O n M ay 25,20 16,M s.Giu ffre prod u ced the requ estto and the response received from ,d ated M ay 18 ,20 0 6, atGIUFFRE 0 0 548 9-GIUFFRE 0 0 5491.The response stated thatitwas 7  Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 441 Filed 09/21/16 Page 8 of 18 See GIUFFRE 0 0 548 9.M s.Giu ffre has ex hau sted herobligation u nd erRu le 26 to retrieve employmentrecord s thatthe pu rported employerstates d o notex ist. Similarly,M s.Giu ffre ex ecu ted a release and requ estfor record s from ,which was sentoverfou rmonths ago,on M ay 9,2016.O n M ay 25,2016,M s.Giu ffre prod u ced the requ estto and the response received from , d ated M ay 13, 200 6, at GIUFFRE 00 548 6- GIUFFRE 0 0548 8 .D efend antis also insistingthatM s.Giu ffre obtain record s from .A s ex plained in her d eposition, .M s.Giu ffre has prod u ced allemploymentrecord s thatshe has obtained and ,again,she has forgone any claim forlostwages rend eringrecord searches foremploymentrecord s u nnecessary and irrelevant. B. Medical Records 1. M s.Giu ffre has Exhau sted A llP racticalW ays to Search for and P rod u ce M ed icalRecord s W hile M s.Giu ffre has mad e significantefforts to collecthermed ical(and employment) record s,these record s are held bythird parties.M s.Giu ffre,is notin possession of the record s,and cannotcontrolthe response (orlackthereof)bythe third parties who hold the record s.Ind eed ,some old provid ers no longerhave record s;and some provid ers no longerex ist.A complete overview of what med icalrecord s are u navailable to M s.Giu ffre is below atA ppend ix A . Even if M s.Giu ffre had end less resou rces and end less time to pu rsu e all hermed icalrecord s – record s spanningalmosttwo d ecad es and across two continents –itis u nlikelythatestablishing complete certaintythatafu llrecoveryof med icalrecord s is even possible,particu larlywhen some of these record s wou ld be ped iatric record s.See e.g.,M argotSanger-Katz,‘Full Medical Records’ for 8  Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 441 Filed 09/21/16 Page 9 of 18 Trump and Clinton? That’s Fiction,N EW Y O RK TIM ES ,Sept.8 ,2016 (“‘Gettingsomeone’s record s is a nightmare,becau se theyare in paper,and they’re scattered everywhere, ’said D r.W illiam Tierney,the d epartmentchairman ofpopu lation healthatthe D ellM ed icalSchoolatthe Universityof Tex as,who has stu d ied and worked on electronic healthrecord s systems,and u sed them as aphysician. ”). A ccord ingly,“certainty”thatevery med icalrecord ever created forM s.Giu ffre,across nearlytwo d ecad es and two continents is achimera-end less time and resou rces cou ld neverprod u ce su ch certainty. 2. M s.Giu ffre has M ore than Satisfied H erB u rd en u nd erRu le 26,and C ou rts D o N otRequ ire Ex hau stive D iscoveryof IrrelevantM ed icalInformation M s.Giu ffre can certifythatshe has mad e reasonable,d iligent,and persistentefforts to collect allof heremploymentand med icalrecord s,thu s satisfyingherresponsibilities u nd erRu le 26,Fed .R. C iv.P .M s.Giu ffre,hercou nsel,and theirstaff,have spenthu nd red s of hou rs workingto collectthese record s,the overwhelmingmajorityof whichare noteven tangentiallyrelated to this case.These efforts have been fru itfu l:M s.Giu ffre has prod u ce over250 pages of med icalrecord s from over20 provid ers. A gain,M s.Giu ffre has tracked d own and prod u ced old med icalrecord s .Itis ax iomatic thatthese med icalrecord s are highly-personal.These record s have nothing-absolu telynothing-to d o to this case,and are wholly irrelevantto the claims and d efenses asserted herein. C ou rts in this d istrictand in N ew Y orkhave repeated ly ex plained thatmed icald iscovery requ ests d o notgive aparty carte blanche license “to ru mmage throu ghallaspects of the plaintiff’s life in searchof apossible sou rce of stress ord istress, ”whichis ex actly whatD efend anthas been d oingforthe lastfive months.See Evanko v. Electronic Systems Assoc., Inc.,1993 W L 14458 at* 2 (S. D .N .Y .J an.8 ,1993)(applyingthe N ew Y orkstate physician-patientprivilege,and hold ingthat where plaintiff claimed thatshe su ffered emotionald istress,d efend ants d id nothave “alicense to ru mmage throu ghallaspects of the plaintiff' s life in searchof apossible sou rce of stress or 9  Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 441 Filed 09/21/16 Page 10 of 18 d istress, ”inclu d ingplaintiff’s med icalrecord s);Manessis v. New York City Dep't of Transp.,20 02 W L 31115032,at* 2 (S.D .N . Y .Sept.24,200 2)(conclu d ingthat“ability to pu rsu e d iscovery regard ing[plaintiff’s] med icalrecord s shou ld be limited in some manner” ). E ven in personalinju ry actions -whichthis is not:itis ad efamation action -cou rts d o not give d efend ants u nbrid led license to obtain irrelevantmed icalrecord s.See e.g., Wachtman v. Trocaire College,532 N .Y .S.2d 943,944 (N .Y .A pp.D iv.198 8 )(hold ingthatthe scope of a waiverof the physician-patientprivilege in personalinju ry cases is “limited and d oes notpermit d iscovery of information involvingu nrelated illnesses and treatment” );Sgambellone v. Wheatley, 165 M isc.2d 954,958 ,630 N . Y .S.2d 8 35,8 38 (N .Y .Su p.C t.1995)(hold ingthatin apersonal inju ry action,plaintiff' s waiverof the physician-patientprivilege “is notawholesale waiverof all information abou tthe plaintiff’s entire physicaland mentalcond itions bu tawaiveronly of the physicaland /ormentalcond ition thatis affirmatively placed in controversy” )(emphasis in original). Ru le 26(b)(1),Fed .R.C iv.P .,limits d iscovery in civilcases,and the D ecember20 15 amend mentto the Ru le limits d iscovery even fu rther.Itstates: P arties may obtain d iscovery regard ingany nonprivileged matterthat is relevant to any party’s claim ord efense and proportionalto the need s of the case,consid eringthe importance of the issu es atstake in the action,the amou ntin controversy,the parties’ relative access to the relevantinformation,the parties’resou rces,the importance of d iscovery in resolvingthe issu es,and whetherthe bu rd en orex pense of the proposed d iscovery ou tweighs its likely benefit. Ru le 26(b)(1),Fed .R.C iv.P .D efend ant’s d iscovery requ ests foremploymentand med icalrecord s wholly failto meetany of these requ irements. First,the med icalrecord s D efend antseeks ),are notrelevantto any party’s claim ord efense in this d efamation action.A d d itionally,employmentrecord s are notrelevantto this action since M s. Giu ffre has longago d ropped any claim related to lostwages. 10  Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 441 Filed 09/21/16 Page 11 of 18 Second ,these requ ests are notproportionalto the need s of this case.In this d efamation case,to prevail,M s.Giu ffre need s to prove thatD efend antlied when she called M s.Giu ffre aliar when she spoke ou tabou tthe sex u alabu se she su ffered atthe hand s of D efend antand herlive-in boyfriend ,convicted ped ophile J effrey E pstein.To d efeatthe claim,D efend antwou ld have to prove thatshe was tellingthe tru thand thatshe and E pstein d id notabu se M s.Giu ffre.The record s D efend antseeks in these overly-broad and ex traneou s requ ests d o notgo to the issu es in this case, and are,therefore,notproportionalto the case. Finally,forthe reasons stated above,the bu rd en and ex pense of seekingto obtain the proposed d iscoveryou tweighs its benefit.Itis highlybu rd ensome to trackd own allemploymentand med ical record s (inclu d ingped iatric record s)thatspan nearlytwo d ecad es,and span variou s locations in two continents.There are no issu es in this case thatare brou ghtcloserto resolu tion byD efend antgaining M s.Giu ffre’s record s of treatmentfor .Tellingly,throu ghou tthis entire litigation,D efend anthas cited no case in su pportof herposition thatshe shou ld have these record s.D espite thatfailing,M s.Giu ffre has performed an enormou s u nd ertakingto procu re over250 pages of med icalrecord s from over20 provid ers .A tthis point,D efend ant’s continu ed d iscoveryrequ ests are nothingmore than harassment. C. Ms. Giuffre’s Production Should Be Deemed Complete M s.Giu ffre can certifythatshe has prod u ced allof the d ocu ments relatingto anymed ical treatmentoremploymentin her possession 3 afterabu rd ensome,d iligent,and lengthyqu estto obtain 3 11  Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 441 Filed 09/21/16 Page 12 of 18 and prod u ce alld ocu ments in ex istence from d ozens of third parties.B ased on these efforts,and the case law cited above,M s.Giu ffre respectfu llyrequ ests thatthe C ou rtacceptthatcertification so that M s.Giu ffre can move forward withthe second d eposition and ensu re thatthe trialin this matterwill notbe d elayed . CONCLUSION B ased u pon the foregoing,M s.Giu ffre respectfu lly requ ests thatthis C ou rtapprove M s. Giu ffre’s certification of prod u ction as complete so thatM s.Giu ffre’s second d eposition can go forward and the parties can ad vance toward trial. September21,2016 Respectfu lly Su bmitted , B O IE S,SC H IL L E R & FL E X N E R L L P B y:/s/Sigrid M cC awley Sigrid M cC awley (P ro H ac V ice) M ered ithSchu ltz (P ro H ac V ice) B oies Schiller& Flex nerL L P 401 E .L as O las B lvd .,Su ite 120 0 Ft.L au d erd ale,FL 3330 1 (954)356-0 011 D avid B oies B oies Schiller& Flex nerL L P 333 M ain Street A rmonk,N Y 10 50 4 B rad ley J .E d ward s (P ro H ac V ice) FA RM E R,J A FFE ,W E ISSIN G, E D W A RD S,FISTO S & L E H RM A N ,P .L . 425 N orthA nd rews A venu e,Su ite 2 FortL au d erd ale,Florid a3330 1 (954)524-28 20 P au lG.C assell(P ro H ac V ice) S. J.Q u inney C ollege of L aw University of Utah 38 3 University St. SaltL ake C ity,UT 8 4112 12  Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 441 Filed 09/21/16 Page 13 of 18 (8 0 1)58 5-520 2 4 4 This d aytime bu siness ad d ress is provid ed forid entification and correspond ence pu rposes only and is notintend ed to imply institu tionalend orsementby the University of Utah forthis private representation. 13  Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 441 Filed 09/21/16 Page 14 of 18 APPENDIX A O n September7 ,20 16,M s.Giu ffre wrote to D efend antwithasu mmary and certification of M s.Giu ffre’s d iscovery. Therein,M s. Giu ffre id entified provid ers from whom no record s cou ld be obtained ,d espite allreasonable d iligence in pu rsu itof those record s.They are as follows: D efend antrespond ed ,claimingthere were ou tstand ingmed icalrecord s from 13 d ifferent 14  Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 441 Filed 09/21/16 Page 15 of 18 sou rces (thou gh,forsome,the sou rces were one and the same,and merely categorized as d ifferent provid ers by D efend ant).H owever,foreachof them,there are no “ou tstand ingrecord s.”To the contrary,M s.Giu ffre had alread y issu ed requ ests,orno provid ername was remembered ,orM s. Giu ffre neversaw the provid er,as ex plained in M s.Giu ffre’s September16,2016,letter. Specifically,M s.Giu ffre stated : 15 Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 441 Filed 09/21/16 Page 16 of 18 16  Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 441 Filed 09/21/16 Page 17 of 18 See M cC awley D ec.atE x hibit3. A ccord ingly,M s.Giu ffre has mad e athorou ghsearchand robu stprod u ction of her med icalrecord s,in good faith,and ,therefore,can sitforherd eposition and proceed to trial. 17  Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 441 Filed 09/21/16 Page 18 of 18 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I HEREBY CERTIFY thaton September21,20 16,Ielectronically filed the foregoing d ocu mentwiththe C lerkof C ou rtby u singthe C M /E C F system.Ialso certify thatthe foregoing d ocu mentis beingserved to allparties of record viatransmission of the E lectronic C ou rtFiling System generated by C M /E C F. L au raA .M enninger,E sq. Jeffrey P agliu ca,E sq. H A D D O N ,M O RGA N & FO RE M A N ,P .C . 150 E ast10 th A venu e D enver,C olorad o 8 0 20 3 Tel:(30 3)8 31-7 364 Fax :(303)8 32-2628 E mail:lmenninger@ hmflaw. com jpagliu ca@ hmflaw.com /s/M ered ithSchu ltz M ered ithSchu ltz 6