In December 2010, the plaintiffs were struck by the defendant Wong who failed to stop at a stop sign resulting in the crash. The defendant gave a statement to both the police officer at the scene and, shortly thereafter, to her insurance company. The defendant refused to provide the statement given to her insurance company claiming the document was protected by the Work Product Doctrine. The Superior Court judge disagreed and ordered the statement to be produce as the Work Product Doctrine was inapplicable and that the statement could not be obtained by any other means. The court found the statement was important as the defendant for the first time raised the issue of the sun being a factor in the accident only after the lawsuit had been filed and had not made any reference to the sun in either her statement to the police and/or to her insurance company.

This decision is important to injury victims as it levels the playing field in automobile accident cases. Many times the defendant will obtain the injury victims' statement to her insurance company but will refuse to produce the defendant's statement given to them. Insurance companies often argue that the statements given by the defendants are protected and this decision narrows the instances in which the statement may be withheld and thereby allowing for full disclosure and the truth to be established.

If you have any questions regarding a car, automobile, motorcycle, pedestrian or truck accident, whether in Massachusetts or New Hampshire, please contact an attorney at Hamblett & Kerrigan to discuss. Let Hamblett & Kerrigan use their experience in representing injury victims to your advantage.

Kevin P. Rauseo is a director at Hamblett & Kerrigan P.A. He concentrates his practice in the areas of family and divorce law, Collaborative law, child custody and visitation, child support and alimony, personal injury, insurance defense, slip and fall accidents, automobile and truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, premises liability, dog bites and civil litigation. He is a member of the International Academy of Collaborative Professional and serves on the Professional Development Committee and has previously served on the Public Education Advisory Panel of the Academy. He also is a member of the Collaborative Law Alliance of New Hampshire. AV Preeminent Rated by Martindale-Hubbell. Recipient of the 2014 Nationally Ranked Top 10 Attorney Award from the National Academy of Family Law Attorneys (NAFLA). You can reach Attorney Rauseo atkrauseo@nashualaw.com.