Mealey's Discovery
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April 20, 2023
Government Gets Deadline Extensions In Tax Attorney’s Microcaptive Insurance Suit
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — In the two latest orders in a case involving a penalty related to microcaptive insurance companies, a Florida federal judge partly granted the government’s motion to push back the trial date and mostly rejected the plaintiff’s assertion of attorney-client privilege in a discovery dispute.
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April 20, 2023
Florida Federal Magistrate Grants Ex Parte Application Related To Reinsurance Row
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Finding that the statutory requirements are met and “the discretionary factors favor granting the Application,” a federal magistrate judge in Florida granted an insurer’s ex parte application for judicial assistance to obtain evidence for use in a foreign proceeding involving an alleged reinsurance policy.
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April 19, 2023
Asbestos-Talc Defendant Denies Need For 2nd Deposition Of Representative
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Whittaker Clark & Daniels Inc. (WCD) says in an opposition to a motion to compel a second deposition that its corporate representative answered relevant questions during his deposition but was under no obligation to discuss company financials or other information subject to a protective order and that the plaintiff is attempting to circumvent the close of discovery by seeking additional evidence.
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April 19, 2023
Pa. Supreme Court Won’t Hear Homebuilders’ Appeal Of Document Production Issue
HARRISBURG, Pa. — In an April 18 per curiam order, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied a homebuilder’s petition to appeal an appellate court opinion upholding a trial court’s finding that the builder’s spreadsheets, containing lists of customers who complained of water intrusion in their homes, were not privileged or protected attorney work product because the documents were factual in nature and prepared by the companies’ operations department, not their legal counsel.
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April 19, 2023
In Minnesota Trademark Row, Judge Sanctions ‘Contumacious’ Conduct
MINNEAPOLIS — A trademark infringement and dilution plaintiff’s request for sanctions against a former licensee and his company was granted April 18 by a federal judge in Minnesota, who said the defendants “contumacious, repeated and dilatory conduct” warrants entry of a default judgment.
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April 18, 2023
South Carolina Court Affirms Asbestos Verdict, Expert Admissions, Sanction
ANDERSON, S.C. — Medical causation experts’ cumulative dose testimony “easily meets the legal standard for reliability,” a South Carolina appeals court said in affirming a $5,125,000 verdict while saying it worried that lifting sanctions against Fisher Controls International LLC would sanction the asbestos defendant’s evasive discovery maneuvers.
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April 14, 2023
McDonald’s Granted Protective Order In AI Voiceprint Class Lawsuit
CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois on April 13 granted a motion for a protective order sought by McDonald’s Corp. in a putative class complaint alleging that the franchisor violates Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) by collecting voiceprints to place drive-through orders.
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April 14, 2023
Magistrate Judge Quashes Subpoenas Seeking Testimony From Asbestos Insurers
NEW ORLEANS — Subpoenas seeking trial testimony generally name insurance companies rather than specific representatives and improperly came after the close of discovery, a federal magistrate judge in Louisiana said in granting motions to quash.
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April 14, 2023
Additional Discovery On Social Security Disability Income Benefits Not Warranted
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A disability insurer is not entitled to additional discovery regarding a dependent’s monthly Social Security disability payments because the disability claimant provided the insurer with documentation that she has only one dependent who is receiving Social Security benefits based on the claimant’s disability, a California federal judge said.
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April 13, 2023
Judge: Reconsideration Not Vehicle To Challenge Agency Asbestos Testimony Ruling
MISSOULA, Mont. — The correct way to challenge an order compelling testimony from government agencies is by moving to quash the subpoenas and not in a motion for reconsideration of the ruling ordering the testimony, a federal judge in Montana said in a False Claims Act (FCA) case involving asbestos-related Medicare claims filed under a special Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) program.
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April 11, 2023
Tennis Player, Association To Confer On Discovery Privacy In Sex Assault Lawsuit
ORLANDO, Fla. — United States Tennis Association Inc. (USTA) and a player suing it over a sexual assault by her coach were ordered to confer on how to address privacy concerns in documents the plaintiff seeks in discovery, with a Florida federal magistrate judge giving the parties two weeks to file a stipulated confidentiality agreement.
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April 11, 2023
Some Deposition Prep Documents Deemed Privileged In DOL FLSA Dispute
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — The defendant in a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) lawsuit brought against it by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) did not establish that most of the documents reviewed by witnesses prior to their depositions were not protected by privilege, a New York federal magistrate judge said, while concluding that a few documents were used to refresh a deponent’s memory and needed to have some of the redactions removed.
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April 11, 2023
Judgment Hearing Set, Sanctions Briefs Filed In Google Antitrust Suits
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge in an April 10 order set the agenda for an April 13 hearing over summary judgment motions brought by Google LLC in consolidated suits brought against it by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and a group of states over its purported monopolization of the internet search engine market.
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April 06, 2023
Fracking Company Says Judge Should Compel Production Of Documents In Well Dispute
WHEELING, W.Va. — On April 5, a hydraulic fracturing company moved in West Virginia federal court seeking to compel landowners to comply with a previous agreement between the parties under which the landowners would produce a privilege log of documents and communications in a dispute over abandoned wells.
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April 06, 2023
Investor Not Harmed By Court’s Denial Of Discovery, Panel Rules
ATLANTA — A federal district court did not err in denying man’s request for discovery in a lawsuit alleging that companies mismanaged a long-term incentive plan in which the man invested because the man was provided with an opportunity to conduct discovery when the companies moved for summary judgment, an 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled in affirming.
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April 06, 2023
CERCLA Claims Tossed; Spoliation Sanctions Will Be Issued In New York
UTICA, N.Y. — Although stopping short of selecting a sanction, a federal judge in New York has agreed with defendants that spoliation sanctions are indeed warranted in a longstanding dispute over the cleanup of a former metal recycling plant.
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April 04, 2023
Google Sanctioned $79,000 For Untimely Disclosure In Chrome Data-Tracking Suit
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Nine days after a California federal magistrate judge issued a pair of discovery orders in two consolidated putative class actions over Google LLC’s purported collection of data from users of its Chrome web browser, redacted versions were filed of orders granting the plaintiffs’ motion for sanctions and granting Google’s motion for relief regarding preservation.
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April 03, 2023
Missouri High Court: Work Product Protection Waived In Shared Accident Documents
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The plaintiffs in a personal injury negligence suit against a hospital cannot withhold documents pertaining to their settlement of an unrelated lawsuit, the Missouri Supreme Court held, ruling that the plaintiffs’ disclosure of those documents in the previous suit constituted waiver of the work product doctrine and defeated their claims that the documents are protected from discovery by privilege.
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March 29, 2023
Judge: Google’s Failure To Preserve Chats In Antitrust Suit Merits Sanctions
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on March 28 found that Google LLC exhibited “highly spotty practices” related to its duty to preserve interoffice employee chats in response to litigation hold notices connected with purported monopolistic practices related to its Google Play Store, leading the judge to rule that the technology giant will be sanctioned for this behavior in an amount to be determined.
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March 29, 2023
DHS Urges Supreme Court To Deny Certiorari In FOIA ‘Agency Records’ Dispute
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals correctly found that documents identifying Donald J. Trump’s pre-inauguration visitors do not constitute “agency records” and, as such, were not subject to disclosure in response to a journalist’s request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) tells the U.S. Supreme Court in a brief opposing the journalist’s petition for certiorari.
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March 28, 2023
Judge Orders Discovery For Enforcement Of Award Worth $58.6M Against Moldova
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge granted an award-creditor’s motion for an order enforcing a judgment worth more than $58.6 million against the Republic of Moldova for a confirmed arbitral award in an electricity contract dispute that was previously affirmed on appeal and ordered Moldova to response to the creditor’s discovery requests.
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March 28, 2023
Pa. Federal Judge Orders In Camera Review Of Sham Patent Case Docs
PHILADELPHIA — In a March 27 ruling, a federal judge in Pennsylvania concluded that the crime-fraud exception to the attorney-client privilege applies to documents sought by plaintiffs asserting violations of federal antitrust law by the makers of AndroGel.
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March 27, 2023
Court Enters Judgment After Ford Drops Asbestos Settlement Discovery Motion
GREENSBORO, N.C. — A federal judge in North Carolina entered judgment after Ford Motor Co. dropped its motion to compel production of settlements and offsets and assented to judgment based on plaintiff’s concession that settlements exceeded the jury’s $275,000 verdict.
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March 27, 2023
Marriott Opposes Discovery Report And Recommendation In Data Breach Class Action
GREENBELT, Md. — The discovery production recommended by a Maryland federal magistrate judge would encompass documents that were not used in its valuation of customers’ personally identifiable information (PII) that was stolen in a 2014 data breach, Marriott International Inc. argues, asking a trial court to sustain its objection to the magistrate’s report and recommendation.
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March 24, 2023
Parties To Libby, Mont., Asbestos Case Call Government Testimony Critical
MISSOULA, Mont. — Agents of the United States are the only ones capable of answering questions critical to a False Claims Act (FCA) case involving asbestos-related Medicare claims created under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), parties to the suit told a federal judge in Montana, urging him to affirm a decision that the government must produce witnesses and to ignore a motion for reconsideration.