{"id":905546,"date":"2026-04-09T16:12:45","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T22:12:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=905546"},"modified":"2026-04-09T16:12:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T22:12:49","slug":"pro-se-litigant-misses-work-product-argument-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/pro-se-litigant-misses-work-product-argument-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Pro Se Litigant Misses Work Product Argument, and Court Opinion Misses Work Product Argument: Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Thomas E. Spahn | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcguirewoods.com\/client-resources\/privilege-ethics\/privilege-points\/2026\/3\/pro-se-litigant-misses-work-product-argument-and-court-opinion-misses-work-product-argument-part-i\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">McGuireWoods<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In\u00a0<em>Kachelev. El-Maasri<\/em>, Case No. 25-cv-3458-AGS-MMP, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15935 (S.D. Cal. Jan. 28, 2026), a dentist sued his landlord <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/sactions-against-pro-se-plaintiff-upheld\/\">pro se<\/a> and sought to block the landlord\u2019s discovery of his\u00a0communications with his dental office employees. Dealing only with attorney-client privilege, the court quickly denied the plaintiff\u2019s motion \u2014 noting that \u201cplaintiff is a non-attorney representing himself pro se and has\u00a0not represented his dental practice [as] counsel.\u201d\u00a0<em>Id.<\/em>\u00a0at *11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not surprisingly, the pro se plaintiff apparently didn\u2019t think of claiming work product protection \u2014 which on its face can protect \u201cdocuments and tangible things that are prepared . . . by or for another party\u201d \u2014 if they satisfy the litigation-related motivational element. Courts that read the work product rule understand that even someone who has never met a lawyer can create protected work product in such circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some courts give pro se litigants a break, reminding them of some legal or procedural advantage they are overlooking. That didn\u2019t happen here \u2014 perhaps because even courts often overlook&nbsp;the work product rule\u2019s expansive protection. Next week\u2019s Privilege Point describes such an example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/pro-se-litigant-misses-work-product-argument\/\">Pro Se Litigant Misses Work Product Argument, and Court Opinion Misses Work Product Argument: Part II<\/a><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When one of your cases is in need of a construction expert, estimates, insurance appraisal or umpire services in defect or insurance disputes &#8211; please call Advise &amp; Consult, Inc. at 801.641.8304, or email <a href=\"mailto:experts@adviseandconsult.net\">experts@adviseandconsult.net<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thomas E. Spahn | McGuireWoods In\u00a0Kachelev. El-Maasri, Case No. 25-cv-3458-AGS-MMP, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15935 (S.D. Cal. Jan. 28, 2026), a dentist sued his landlord pro se and sought to block the landlord\u2019s discovery of his\u00a0communications with his dental office employees. Dealing only with attorney-client privilege, the court quickly denied the plaintiff\u2019s motion \u2014 noting&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/pro-se-litigant-misses-work-product-argument-part-1\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Pro Se Litigant Misses Work Product Argument, and Court Opinion Misses Work Product Argument: Part I<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[172,10918],"tags":[9895,12303,9070],"class_list":["post-905546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-law-2","category-product-liability-product-liability","tag-advise-consult","tag-pro-se","tag-products-liability","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Pro Se Litigant Misses Work Product Argument, and Court Opinion Misses Work Product Argument: Part I - Advise &amp; 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