Contract analysis

I. PRELIMINARY STATEMENT Defendant Northgate Fiber Americas Inc. ("NFA") respectfully cross-moves for an order compelling Plaintiff Meridian Infrastructure Partners LLC ("Meridian") to produce one hundred eighty-seven (187) documents that Meridian has improperly withheld from discovery on the basis of a purported "common interest privilege" allegedly shared between Meridian and its private equity sponsor, non-party R

II. STATEMENT OF FACTS A. Background of the Dispute The underlying dispute arises from the termination of a large-scale fiber-optic construction contract. On March 15, 2020, NFA and Meridian executed the Master Construction Agreement (the "MCA"), a five-year contract valued at approximately $1.2 billion. (Park Decl. Ex. H.) Under the MCA, Meridian was engaged to design, engineer, permit, and construct approximately 1

III. ARGUMENT A. Legal Standard for Common Interest Privilege Under New York Law The common interest privilege — also known as the "community of interest" or "allied litigant" privilege — is an extension of the attorney-client privilege that permits parties sharing a common legal interest to exchange attorney-client communications without waiving the privilege. Larkspur Holdings, 27 N.Y.3d 616, 628 (2016). The doctri

IV. NFA'S OPPOSITION TO MERIDIAN'S MOTION TO COMPEL IS SEPARATELY BRIEFED NFA notes that its opposition to Meridian's Motion to Compel (NYSCEF Doc. No. 48), which seeks production of 214 documents that NFA has withheld on the basis of the attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine, is addressed in a separate opposition brief that was filed on December 2, 2024 (NYSCEF Doc. No. 53) and is supplemented by t

V. NFA IS ENTITLED TO ATTORNEYS' FEES Under CPLR § 3124 and the Court's inherent authority to manage discovery and sanction discovery abuses, NFA is entitled to recover its reasonable attorneys' fees and costs incurred in bringing this cross-motion. Meridian's blanket assertion of common interest privilege over 187 documents is without substantial justification. The common interest privilege is inapplicable as a matt

VI. CONCLUSION For the foregoing reasons, Defendant Northgate Fiber Americas Inc. respectfully requests that the Court enter an order: (1) Compelling Plaintiff Meridian Infrastructure Partners LLC to produce to Defendant the 187 documents identified on Plaintiff's privilege log as withheld under the common interest privilege with Ridgepoint Capital Group LP; (2) In the alternative, directing in camera review of the 1