ESTATE OF RAUL M. SLAVIN, Deceased

ESTATE OF RAUL M. SLAVIN, Deceased (15/1970/A) — An instrument dated October 12, 2009, has been offered for probate as the Will of decedent Raul M. Slavin by his son Raoul G. Slavin Julia. Decedent's two other sons, Roger A. E. Slavin and Christian B. A. Slavin ("Roger and Christian"), have requested discovery pursuant to SCPA 1404 prior to the filing of objections. Chadbourne & Parke LLP ("Chadbourne"),1 the firm that employed the attorney-drafter and the witnesses to the execution of the 2009 instrument, produced almost 1,900 pages of documents in response to Roger and Christian's demands for discovery, but withheld 18 documents and redacted three others, claiming that they were protected from disclosure by the attorney-client privilege (CPLR 4503 [a]), or the attorney work-product doctrines (CPLR 3101 [c]; CPLR 3101 [d][2])). Roger and Christian have filed the present motion in which they challenge Chadbourne's assertion of these privileges and seek an order directing the firm to produce all 21 documents in issue, without any redaction, prior to the examination of the attorney-drafter and the attesting witnesses.

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ESTATE OF RAUL M. SLAVIN, Deceased (15/1970/A) — An instrument dated October 12, 2009, has been offered for probate as the Will of decedent Raul M. Slavin by his son Raoul G. Slavin Julia. Decedent’s two other sons, Roger A. E. Slavin and Christian B. A. Slavin (“Roger and Christian”), have requested discovery pursuant to SCPA 1404 prior to the filing of objections. Chadbourne & Parke LLP (“Chadbourne”),¹ the firm that employed the attorney-drafter and the witnesses to the execution of the 2009 instrument, produced almost 1,900 pages of documents in response to Roger and Christian’s demands for discovery, but withheld 18 documents and redacted three others, claiming that they were protected from disclosure by the attorney-client privilege (CPLR 4503 [a]), or the attorney work-product doctrines (CPLR 3101 [c]; CPLR 3101 [d][2])). Roger and Christian have filed the present motion in which they challenge Chadbourne’s assertion of these privileges and seek an order directing the firm to produce all 21 documents in issue, without any redaction, prior to the examination of the attorney-drafter and the attesting witnesses.

By decision dated March 15, 2017, this court directed Chadbourne to produce the documents it redacted or withheld from disclosure together with a privilege log (CPLR 3122 [b]) for in camera review. After conducting such review, the court’s determination is as follows.

ESTATE OF RAUL M. SLAVIN, Deceased

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