Ford Motor Co. v. Harper

Ray Thornton, Justice. Ford Motor Company and North Point Ford, Inc. (“Ford”), appeal a pretrial discovery order granting a motion to have certain documents produced. Ford claims that the documents are protected by the attorney-client privilege and the work-product doctrine. Appellees, Milton Harper, Janice Harper, Upper Room Apostolic Church, and Leon Dulemer (“the Harpers”) respond that Ford has not adequately explained why the documents are privileged, and the order should be affirmed.

On July 2, 1999, the Harpers filed an action against Ford alleging negligence, strict liability and breach of warranties arising from a vehicle fire that occurred on April 7, 1997. Pursuant to a pre-trial discovery hearing, the trial court ordered Ford to produce for in camera review certain documents that Ford argued should be protected by the attorney-client privilege and the work-product doctrine. Following his in camera review of the documents, the trial court entered an order directing that certain, of the documents be produced. The contested documents were included in a sealed packet, and Ford sought an interlocutory appeal to review the trial court’s findings with respect to the question of whether the documents were subject to discovery. It is from the trial court’s order to produce the documents that Ford appeals.

A threshold matter in this case is whether this court has jurisdiction to hear an appeal of an interlocutory order concerning a discovery matter. We must first decide the jurisdictional issue before reaching the matter of whether the documents should be protected by the attorney-client privilege and the work-product doctrine.

Whether a judgment, decree, or order is final is a jurisdictional issue that this court has a duty to raise, even if the parties do not, in order to avoid piecemeal litigation. Ark. R. App. P. — Civ. 2. Where no final or otherwise appealable order is entered, this court'lacks jurisdiction to hear the appeal. Smith v. Smith, 337 Ark. 583 , 990 S.W.2d 550 (1999); Hall v. Lunsford, 292 Ark. 655 , 732 S.W.2d 141 (1987). In order for a judgment to be final and appealable, it must dismiss parties from court, discharge them from the action or conclude their rights to the subject matter in the controversy. Warren v. Kelso, 339 Ark. 70 , 3 S.W.3d 302 (1999).

Rule 2(a)(6) of the Arkansas Rules of Appellate Procedure — Civil dictates that for an interlocutory order to be appealable it must be “[a]n interlocutory order by which an injunction is granted, continued, modified, refused, or dissolved, or by which an application to dissolve or modify an injunction is refused[.]” Id. The fact that a significant issue may be involved is not sufficient in itself for the appellate court to accept jurisdiction of an interlocutory appeal. Scheland v. Chilldres, 313 Ark. 165 , 854 S.W.2d 791 (1993).

We have made an exception to the Rule 2 requirement that the order be final in cases where the interlocutory order, though not final, had the practical effect of a final ruling on the merits. In Gipson v. Brown, 288 Ark. 422 , 706 S.W.2d 369 (1986), we reviewed an interlocutory order compelling discovery of a church’s financial information. Id. We held that the release of financial data was subject to discovery but would not be required until the final ruling was obtained because the information sought was the object of the lawsuit. Id. Therefore, to compel discovery in that case would be the equivalent of a ruling on the merits, and the appeal was reviewable. Id.

The instant case is distinguishable from Gipson in that here, the discovery of the documents is not the object of the lawsuit. The motion ordering production of the documents did not have the practical effect of a final ruling on the merits of this case, and is not within the ambit of the exception.

Similar to the instant case, in Haase v. Starnes, 337 Ark. 193 , 987 S.W.2d 704 (1999), we held that an interlocutory appeal concerning the trial court’s determination to exclude evidence in a medical malpractice suit was not reviewable because it “merely determines the admissibility of evidence and defers a determination as to liability and damages.” Id.

Both parties agree that it would require the creation of an exception to Ark. R. App. P. — Civ. 2 to allow this appeal of a ruling on a discovery matter. We hold that this appeal of an interlocutory order concerning a discovery matter is precisely the piecemeal litigation that Rule 2 was intended to prevent and decline to create an exception to the Rule. Because we conclude that we lack jurisdiction to consider an interlocutory appeal of this issue relating to a discovery matter, we do not reach the issue of whether the documents are privileged.

Accordingly, we dismiss this appeal.

Glaze, J., concurs.