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White v. DOJ, No. 11-2045(RJL), 2013 WL 3466892 (D.D.C. July 9, 2013) (Leon, J.)

Date
Re: Request for records pertaining to plaintiff Disposition: Granting defendant's motion for summary judgment
  • Adequacy of the Search:  "The Court is satisfied from [defendant's] description of the filing systems searched and the search methods employed that the Criminal Division conducted a search reasonably calculated to locate responsive records."  Defendant searched the offices identified by the plaintiff utilizing four variations of the plaintiff's name.  Defendant explained, "[e]ach section 'would have [searched its] own Automated Case Tracking System' . . . which 'is a comprehensive electronic database that stores records [as far back as 1978] related to investigations conducted by attorneys throughout [the Criminal Division].'"
  • Exemption 5/Attorney Work-Product Privilege:  The court finds that the Executive Office for United States Attorneys properly asserted Exemption 5 and the attorney work-product privilege to withhold in full 23 pages referred to it.  The records are described as "'documents . . . assembled by, or at the direction of, an attorney . . . made in the course of an investigation and in anticipation of one or more prosecutions.'" 
Court Decision Topic(s)
Litigation Considerations, Adequacy of Search
District Court opinions
Exemption 5
Updated August 6, 2014