Middle District of Florida Rejects Defendant’s Argument that Dash Cam Video Should Be Protected as Attorney Work Product.

A dash cam in a tractor trailer was originally unrecovered because it was detached from the truck in the subject collision. Defense counsel and its retained expert ultimately recovered the video in an inspection of the vehicle wreck. The defense attempted to argue that, because it was retrieved by counsel and counsel’s retained expert, the fruits of those efforts qualified the dash cam footage as attorney work product, shielding it from discovery. 

The court rejected this argument, finding that the dash cam footage was clearly material created by the defendants in their regular course of business. 

The court further rejected the application to compel the plaintiff to appear for a deposition prior to disclosing the video, finding the defendants failed to provide a foundation to their assertion that the plaintiff could tailor his testimony if the video was produced prior to depositions. 

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