Work Product Doctrine Does Not Protect Non-Lawyer Notes Lacking Attorney Mental Impressions

In Synergy Thermogen v. Blackbrush Oil & Gas, the Business Court held that notes of a telephone call between plaintiff's former employee and defendant's non-lawyer representatives are neither core nor protected noncore work product where they contain only factual summaries without attorney mental impressions and the requesting party demonstrated substantial need and undue hardship. The decision clarifies that even when an attorney directs a non-representative to take notes, the work product doctrine does not shield purely factual recitations from discovery.