Jessie B. Loftin, Relator v. the Honorable John Martin, Judge, Respondent

Summary

The Texas Supreme Court granted a conditional writ of mandamus, finding that the trial judge erred in sustaining Lumbermens' objection to Loftin's request for production of investigative documents because the privilege claim was unsupported and no in‑camera review was conducted. The Court affirmed the trial judge's discretion on the expert‑report request and the overbroad document request, but held the judge abused discretion on the privilege issue. The mandamus will issue only if the trial judge refuses to rescind that portion of his order. Justice Hecht, dissenting, argued that the majority lowers the standard for mandamus and improperly intervenes in discovery matters.