Mealey's Discovery : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Discovery

October 03, 2023
Fracking Operator: Documents Must Be Produced As They Form Basis Of Complaint

WHEELING, W.Va. — A hydraulic fracturing operator filed a reply brief in West Virginia federal court arguing that it should grant the company’s motion to compel production of documents that are directly related to the factual support of landowners’ claims in an abandoned wells dispute because it says the documents in question form the basis of the complaint against the company.
October 02, 2023
U.S. High Court Won’t Review Sanctions, Orders In Law Professor’s Race Bias Suit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 2 denied a pro se petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a former law professor seeking review of sanctions and other appellate orders in a race bias lawsuit.
September 26, 2023
With Pending Settlement In Clearview Biometrics MDL, Discovery Motions Denied

CHICAGO — In the wake of a tentative settlement announcement by the parties in a multidistrict litigation alleging violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) by artificial intelligence firm Clearview AI Inc., the magistrate judge overseeing discovery denied as moot motions for sanctions and a protective order and returned the case to the assigned presiding judge in Illinois federal court.
September 22, 2023
Covington’s SEC Disclosure Order Stayed Pending Client’s D.C. Circuit Appeal

WASHINGTON, D.C. — One day before the deadline for Covington & Burling LLP to turn over the names of certain clients sought by the Securities and Exchange Commission in conjunction with a cyberattack investigation, a District of Columbia federal judge on Sept. 21 granted a motion by one of those clients, proceeding anonymously, to partially stay the order pending the intervenor client’s appeal of the disclosure order.
September 19, 2023
Covington, SEC Stipulate To Confidential Release Of 6 Clients’ Names

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge on Sept. 19 approved and signed a stipulation between Covington & Burling LLP and the Securities and Exchange Commission under which the law firm agrees to produce, under a protective order, the names of six of seven clients the judge had ordered it to provide to the commission in a July order, which both parties agree that they will not appeal.
September 19, 2023
High Court Review Sought For Reverse-Preemption Ruling In Insurance Info Row

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Arguing in part that the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals removed “large pieces of insurance regulation from the purview of states, where it has long been placed and confirmed by the McCarran-Ferguson Act [MFA],” the Delaware Department of Insurance (DDOI) asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a corporate privacy case involving microcaptive insurance company information.
September 18, 2023
Hawaii Judge Grants Genetic Testing Blood Draw In Asbestos Case

HONOLULU — A mesothelioma sufferer will sit for a blood draw for the purposes of genetic testing after a judge in Hawaii granted a defendant’s motion in an asbestos case.
September 15, 2023
Unsecured Creditors In Vesttoo Chapter 11 Case Want To Conduct Discovery

WILMINGTON, Del. — Arguing that it “is the only independent fiduciary capable of conducting a thorough and conflict-free investigation,” the Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the jointly administered Chapter 11 case of Vesttoo Ltd. and 48 affiliated entities on Sept. 14 asked a Delaware federal bankruptcy court for leave to conduct discovery.
September 13, 2023
Roblox User Says Discovery Subpoenas Correctly ID’d Doe Defendant In Libel Suit

ORLANDO — Information obtained via discovery subpoenas served on Roblox Corp. and Twitter Inc. helped to confirm that the defendant identified in an amended complaint was the Jane Doe listed as the original defendant, a Roblox user tells a Florida federal court in a brief opposing dismissal of defamation and trade libel claims over false statements made about her on the online gaming platform and Twitter.
September 13, 2023
Amazon Invokes Apex Doctrine To Avoid Deposition Of VP In Alexa Privacy Suit

SEATTLE — In a reply brief supporting its motion for a protective order, Amazon.com Inc. tells a Washington federal court that one of its senior vice presidents, who has been targeted for deposition by the plaintiffs in a putative privacy class action over alleged eavesdropping by the Alexa digital assistant, qualifies as an apex executive in the company and, as such, is exempted from being deposed under the apex doctrine.
September 12, 2023
Magistrate: Producing Documents Doesn’t Limit Review In Row With Insurer In Rehab

INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana federal magistrate judge ruled that disclosing privileged documents does not constitute a waiver of privilege or limit the parties’ right to review in a breach of contract suit filed by an insurer in rehabilitation against primary and excess directors and officers (D&O) insurers.
September 12, 2023
Law Firm Must Supply Internal Documents To Local Counsel In Attorney Fees Dispute

DETROIT — The lead national counsel in the USA Gymnastics Inc. (USAG) sexual assault lawsuits must supply internal communications to its local counsel, a Michigan federal magistrate judge ruled, finding these to be relevant to a contractual dispute over an attorney fees arrangement between the two law firms.
September 11, 2023
Asbestos-Talc Defendants Seek To Exclude Moline’s Supplemental Disclosures

NEW YORK — Defendants in an asbestos-talc case accused the plaintiff of “gamesmanship” and urged a federal judge in New York to preclude supplemental expert disclosures, including a 2023 paper from asbestos expert Jacqueline Moline, saying the plaintiff sat on the evidence for months while the parties litigated a previous paper raising similar issues.
September 08, 2023
Meta Pixel Privacy Suit Discovery To Include Files Of Zuckerberg, Executives

SAN FRANCISCO — Meta Platforms Inc.’s searches for documents responsive to the discovery requests of the plaintiffs in a consolidated lawsuit over alleged sharing of patients’ protected health information (PHI) via Meta’s Pixel product will include searches of the files of six Meta executives, including its Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg, a California federal magistrate judge ruled, finding that their files were likely to include “unique, relevant information” that would not be available to other custodians who are junior employees.
September 07, 2023
DOL Wins Subpoena Enforcement Bid In ERISA Probe, Dismisses Mandamus Petition

NEW YORK — After the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) won its long-pending bid for enforcement of an administrative subpoena issued in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act investigation, Acting DOL Secretary Julie Su successfully asked the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to dismiss her petition for a writ of mandamus.
September 01, 2023
Calif. Federal Judge Dismisses Citizen Groups’ Claims Challenging Tribal Casino

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A citizen groups’ Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) claim is moot and its other claims challenging the Jamul Indian Village’s casino operations are futile because the village enjoys sovereign immunity, a California federal judge found in dismissing the groups’ claims without leave to amend.
August 31, 2023
Asbestos-Talc Defendant Objects To Fees Awarded After Failed Subpoena

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — A company at the center of a dispute over subpoenas seeking information from an asbestos-talc study author and her company tells a federal judge in Virginia in an Aug. 30 memorandum that its narrowed discovery request was not unduly burdensome and did not warrant imposing more than $44,000 in fees and costs.
August 31, 2023
Subpoena Of Norfolk Southern’s Consultant In Ohio Case Is Valid, Plaintiffs Say

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Plaintiffs who say they have been injured from exposure to toxic chemicals released from the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, have filed a brief in Ohio federal court arguing that their subpoena of a Norfolk Southern litigation consultant is valid and that they should not be required to withdraw the subpoena “simply based on Norfolk Southern’s blanket assertion of privilege.”
August 30, 2023
Bid For Non-Waiver And Clawback Order Fails In Microcaptive Summons Row

TAMPA, Fla. — Saying in part that two cases where the Internal Revenue Service agreed to entry of an order pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) are “distinguishable,” a Florida federal magistrate judge on Aug. 29 denied an insurance consultancy’s motion for a non-waiver and clawback order regarding material produced in response to an IRS summons.
August 30, 2023
Gambia, Meta Settle Remaining Discovery Disputes Over Myanmar’s Acts Of Genocide

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A three-year disagreement over whether Meta Platforms Inc. could be compelled to produce Facebook posts and messages of Myanmar officials came to a close when a District of Columbia federal judge approved the parties’ stipulation to enter final judgment and close the case in which the Republic of the Gambia had sought discovery to use in a proceeding regarding Myanmar’s acts of genocide.
August 30, 2023
2nd Circuit Upholds Forum Rule Application, Sanctions In WWE CTE Class, Mass Cases

NEW YORK — A trial court’s decisions to award World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. and Vincent K. McMahon (together, WWE) sanctions and apply the forum rule to determine the amount in a class tort complaint and a mass action brought by the same attorney on behalf of allegedly injured wrestlers were upheld by a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel, which found that there was no abuse of discretion.
August 29, 2023
Motion To Quash Subpoena Denied In $5.6M RICO Suit Against New Jersey Pain Clinic

NEWARK, N.J. — A New Jersey federal magistrate judge on Aug. 28 denied a motion to quash GEICO’s subpoena served upon the New Jersey Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor (OIFP) in a $5.6 million Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and fraud suit filed against a pain clinic and its owner and multiple chiropractic practices, alleging that the pain clinic unlawfully obtained personal injury protection (PIP) benefits by paying kickbacks to chiropractors in exchange for referrals, finding that the subpoena “does not unnecessarily hinder the OIFP and that the records may be disclosed.”
August 28, 2023
Discovery Row Outlined In Insurer’s Suit Over Alleged Fraud Scheme

NEW YORK — An insurer that alleges it sustained losses exceeding $135 million due to “systematic breaches of fiduciary duty, fraud, and other misconduct” has asked a New York federal court for a discovery conference over disputes with four defendants, which argue in an Aug. 25 opposition that the request should be denied because “[g]ood cause exists to shift expenses of discovery.”
August 24, 2023
Judge Orders Claimants To Give Names, Comply With CertainTeed Debtor’s Subpoena

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Thousands of people who settled mesothelioma claims with CertainTeed Corp. or its spinoff debtor DBMP LLC must identify themselves and comply with the debtor’s subpoena seeking information they submitted to asbestos trusts because they did not show that there are “exceptional circumstances” allowing them to proceed anonymously, a North Carolina federal judge held in affirming a bankruptcy judge’s decision.
August 24, 2023
Covington, SEC Given 30 More Days To Appeal Order Compelling Client List

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In response to a joint stipulation filed by Covington & Burling LLP and the Securities and Exchange Commission, a District of Columbia federal judge stayed for another 30 days the execution of an order requiring the law firm to produce a list of the names of certain of its clients that the commission wants in conjunction with an investigation related to a cyberattack.