In the latest development in the ongoing litigation between Granite State Insurance Company and Clearwater Insurance Company, Granite unsuccessfully moved to set aside a magistrate judge’s discovery order. As we reported in July 2011, Granite was ordered to produce certain asbestos loss reserve documents in response to Clearwater’s request for production of documents. The motion objecting to that order was denied, the district judge concluding that, first, the magistrate judge’s order was not contrary to law as the crucial issue was not merely, as Granite suggested, whether a ceding insurer has any practices in place regarding providing notice and, second, the order was not “clearly erroneous” because the notice procedures were relevant to the ultimate issue in dispute. The district judge explained that Granite’s arguments were largely tied to the merits of its defenses rather than to the permissibility of the discovery sought. Granite State Insurance Co. v. Clearwater Insurance Co., Case No. 09-10607 (USDC S.D.N.Y. Apr. 20, 2012).
This post written by John Black.
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