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Federal Civil Procedure- Work Product Doctrine

University of Richmond Law Review

The work product doctrine protects from pretrial discovery witness statements and other documents gathered by an adversary's counsel in the course of preparation for possible litigation. The purpose of the work product doctrine is to preserve the privacy and independence of lawyers by denying unwarranted intrusions into their private files and mental processes. Prior to the 1970 amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, courts applied two distinct tests when considering whether to allow pretrial discovery of documents and witness statements. One test required the party seeking discovery to show good cause why discovery should be allowed. The alternative …