Court gives Klugman access to "Quincy" contract

By Leslie Simmons

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - All Jack Klugman wanted was access to his decades-old "Quincy M.E." contract, which had been misplaced over the years. And on Wednesday, that's exactly what a Los Angeles judge gave him.

In a one-page tentative order, Judge Gregory Alarcon ruled that the show's producer, NBC Universal, should provide Klugman access to the papers, the same ones NBC offered to him six months ago.

The veteran actor sued NBC in March, seeking a court order allowing access to the contracts.

According to the lawsuit, Klugman's attorney, Neville Johnson, asked NBC lawyers in July for copies of the contract after NBC reported the series "accumulated over $66 million in net losses." The request was the first step in conducting an audit to verify NBC's reports.

The studio's lawyers responded that they were unable to send the contract, but that Johnson could view the 30-year-old documents in their offices, but that copies or notes of the papers were prohibited.

NBC sources said copies initially were not allowed because some of the papers involving the series contained confidential information.

The judge's ruling clears up whether Klugman can get access to those papers.

"Because the defendants offered to provide plaintiffs with access to the contract they seek, the court finds good cause to order defendants to provide that access again and to permit the copying of the documents for purposes of judicial economy and to promote the ends of justice in an effort to resolve the dispute," Alarcon wrote in his tentative ruling.