Legal Definitions - ordinary work product

Ordinary work product refers to factual information or documents that an attorney or their representatives (such as paralegals, investigators, or consultants) prepare or collect in anticipation of a lawsuit or legal dispute. This type of work product primarily consists of objective facts, witness statements, photographs, reports, or other tangible items, rather than an attorney's personal thoughts, legal theories, or strategies.

While ordinary work product is generally protected from being easily discovered by the opposing side, this protection is not absolute. A court may order its disclosure if the opposing party can demonstrate a substantial need for the materials and prove that they cannot obtain the equivalent information through other means without experiencing significant difficulty or expense.

Here are some examples illustrating ordinary work product:

• Imagine a situation where a pedestrian is injured after slipping on a wet floor in a grocery store. The store's legal team immediately dispatches an investigator to the scene. The investigator takes photographs of the spill, measures the area, and interviews several employees who were working nearby. The investigator's report, including the photos, measurements, and summaries of employee statements, constitutes ordinary work product. While the store's attorney would prefer to keep this information private, a court might compel its disclosure to the injured pedestrian's attorney if, for instance, the floor conditions have since changed, and the employees interviewed are no longer available to testify, making it impossible for the pedestrian's attorney to gather equivalent information.

• Consider a company facing a potential lawsuit over an alleged data breach. The company's in-house legal department initiates an internal investigation. As part of this, they collect server logs, email communications between IT staff regarding security protocols, and interview reports from employees about their awareness of the breach. These collected documents and factual interview summaries, prepared specifically to understand and defend against the anticipated litigation, are considered ordinary work product. An opposing party might seek these materials to understand the timeline and scope of the breach, arguing that they cannot independently replicate this historical data or employee recollections.

• Suppose a homeowner is suing a construction company for alleged defects in a newly built house. The homeowner's attorney hires an independent building inspector to examine the property and document all observed flaws, such as cracks in the foundation, faulty wiring, or plumbing issues. The inspector's detailed report, which objectively describes the physical defects and provides supporting photographs, is an example of ordinary work product. The construction company's legal team might request this report, especially if the defects have since been repaired, making it impossible for their own experts to conduct an equivalent inspection of the original conditions.