Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. v. Phillips County Circuit Court

Summary

The Arkansas Supreme Court granted Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. a writ of certiorari challenging a circuit court order compelling responses to extensive discovery requests and denying protective orders. The court held that Cooper preserved its objections by timely seeking protective relief under Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure 26(c) and 37(d), and that the circuit court grossly abused its discretion by finding waiver. Because the discovery implicated trade-secret protections and related state and federal property interests, the court vacated the circuit court’s order.

Holdings

1. A writ of certiorari was appropriate because the discovery dispute implicated state and federal protections for trade secrets and therefore was not merely an ordinary discovery matter.
2. Cooper Tire did not waive its objections because it filed motions for protective order concerning the objectionable discovery, and Arkansas Rule of Civil Procedure 37(d) excuses a failure to respond when the party has applied for a protective order under Rule 26(c).
3. The circuit court grossly abused its discretion by finding that Cooper Tire waived its objections and compelling disclosure of potentially confidential documents containing protected trade secrets.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a writ of certiorari was an appropriate remedy for review of the discovery order because the dispute implicated the protection of trade secrets rather than presenting merely an ordinary discovery issue.
2. Whether Cooper Tire waived its objections to the requests for production by failing to provide individual responses within the applicable thirty-day period despite having timely filed motions for protective order.
3. Whether the circuit court grossly abused its discretion by compelling production and denying protective orders on the ground that Cooper Tire had waived its objections.

Disposition

vacated