6 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 451a
Civil procedure — Discovery regarding defendant insurer’s relationship with expert witness and a record review company is permissible, provided that discovery is not unduly burdensome, overbroad and is reasonably calculated to lead to discovery of admissible evidence
STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, Petitioner, v. RUSSELL KAUFFMAN, Respondent. 9th Judicial Circuit in and for Orange County. Case No. CI98-10243. Writ No. 98-62. April 15, 1999. Counsel: Rissman, Weisberg, Barrett, Hurt, Donahue & McLain, P.A., Eben C. Self, for Petitioner. The Law Offices of Peter A. Shapiro, P.A., Peter A. Shapiro, for Respondent.
(BEFORE STRICKLAND, BAKER and ADAMS, JJ.)
ORDER DENYING PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI
(Per Curiam.) Based on the record presented and the limited scope of certiorari review, this Court must deny State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company’s Petition for Writ of Certiorari. However, this Court does so with certain reservations.
In this case, the trial court relied on the holding of Allstate v. Boecher, 705 So. 2d 106 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998), to permit Russell Kauffman to obtain discovery regarding State Farm’s relationship with an expert witness and a record review company. This Court acknowledges that Boecher permits such discovery and notes that the Fifth District Court of Appeals has cited it as authority. See State Farm v. Berg, 721 So. 2d 835 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998).
However, the ability to obtain such discovery should not be without limits. The holding in Boecher does not provide a party with carte blanche to seek discovery that is otherwise unduly burdensome, overbroad or not reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence. This Court believes that the ability to “pluck data from cyberspace” may be more burdensome in some cases than Judge Farmer presumed in Boecher. Thus, this Court encourages trial courts to carefully weigh the time and effort involved in responding to this type of discovery request with the relevance of the discovery sought before permitting such discovery.
Accordingly, it is hereby
ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that Petitioner, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company’s, Petition for Writ of Certiorari is DENIED.
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