The claim file is the backbone of most insured losses and one of the first things that many claimants request when litigation starts. Nevada’s Court of Appeals recently decided a case that concerned discovering surveillance video contained in a claim file.
In Keolis v. Dist. Ct., there were three surveillance videos of the claimant. Two were created at the adjuster’s direction, the third was created later at a lawyer’s direction.
The claimant requested all three videos, but Keolis resisted, arguing the videos were work-product because they were prepared in anticipation of litigation.
The Court of Appeals rejected that argument as to the first two videos:
‘[An] attorney’s involvement is not itself sufficient to confer work-product protection to materials that otherwise would have been prepared in the ordinary course of business, irrespective of the attorney’s involvement.’