Thomas J. and Bonnie F. Ratke - Page 16




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          Hyman memorandum.  The statements about matters of fact presented           
          in the redacted memorandum are identical to those presented in              
          the unredacted Hyman memorandum.  Petitioners have the redacted             
          version of the Hyman memorandum, and so we conclude that                    
          petitioners are in possession of the fact-based work product.  We           
          further conclude that, as to the legal strategies and opinions,             
          the redacted version of the Hyman memorandum and respondent’s               
          summary of the unredacted version of the Hyman memorandum (supra            
          notes 2, 3, and 7) taken together provide a fair representation             
          of the legal strategies and opinions in the unredacted version of           
          the Hyman memorandum.  Because (1) petitioners were provided with           
          a fair representation of the unredacted legal strategies and                
          opinions, and (2) the redacted portions would not impact the                
          outcome of petitioners’ motions under sections 7430 and 6673 in             
          the instant case, we conclude that petitioners do not have a                
          compelling need to discover this opinion work product;                      
          petitioners’ desire to discover the unredacted version of the               
          Hyman memorandum is outweighed by the protection afforded by the            
          privacy privilege under the work product doctrine.                          
               The Welhaf memorandum presents statements about matters of             
          fact that are substantially similar to those presented in the               
          redacted version of the Hyman memorandum.  Because petitioners              
          are already in possession of the equivalent fact-based work                 
          product (in the form of the redacted version of the Hyman                   







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