New York Attorneys JHA handles range the gamut of complex financial and commercial litigation and arbitration, including securities, RICO, corporate and contract disputes, credit default swaps, derivatives, and class, mass, and derivative actions. The firm also represents law firms in major disputes.

Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

New York Attorneys JHA handles range the gamut of complex financial and commercial litigation and arbitration, including securities, RICO, corporate and contract disputes, credit default swaps, derivatives, and class, mass, and derivative actions. The firm also represents law firms in major disputes.
Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

Greg Joseph

Rule 37 and Inherent Power Sanctions – While Sanctions Are Reviewed for Abuse of Discretion, District Court’s Invocation of Its Inherent Power Is Reviewed De Novo — Due Process Violated by Failure to Apprise Individuals that They Were Personally at Risk of Monetary Sanctions—That Sanctions Motion Sought Sanctions Against Corporation “Or Others” Insufficient — Post-Sanctions Opportunity to Be Heard Insufficient — Rule 37 Sanctions Must Be Both “Just” and “Related to the Particular ‘Claim’” — Factors Governing Litigation-Ending Sanctions (5th Circuit) — 6. What Is a “Litigation-Ending” Sanction Is A “Practical” Determination and Broader Than Dismissal with Prejudice and Default Judgment —6. What Is a “Litigation-Ending” Sanction Is A “Practical” Determination and Broader Than Dismissal with Prejudice and Default Judgment — What Is a “Litigation-Ending” Sanction Is A “Practical” Determination and Broader Than Dismissal with Prejudice and Default Judgment — Recklessness Insufficient for Case-Ending Sanction (Bad Faith Required) — Rule 37 Authorizes Joint-and-Several Liability on a Party and Its Agents —Attorney’s Fee Award Must be Calculated Using the Lodestar Process

CEATS, Inc. v. TicketNetwork, Inc., 71 F.4th 413 (5th Cir. 2023):  Opinion This consolidated appeal concerns the injunctive and monetary sanctions that the district court imposed after a company and three individuals violated the court’s protective order. The company and…
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Rule 11 — Improper Purpose — Even If Paper Filed Not Only to Vindicate Rights But Also for Some Other Purpose, Sanctions Inappropriate Unless the Other Purpose Is Undertaken in Bad Faith and Is So Excessive As to Eliminate A Proper Purpose

Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC v. Haas, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 19300 (4th Cir. July 27, 2023) (unpublished) PER CURIAM: *1 Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. In 2017, Columbia Gas Transmission…
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Sanctions: § 1927 Authorizes Only Fees Incurred “Because of” Sanctionable Conduct, Not Fees Merely Related to It — Where Responsive Brief Fails to Make Necessary Disclosure Necessitating Reply, All Costs Associated with Reply Are Awardable, Not Merely Portions Specifically Prompted by Improper Non-Disclosure — Party Appealing § 1927 Sanctions Bears Burden of Showing Error in Fee — Setting Fees Is A Matter of Rough Justice and Should Not Result in Second Major Litigation — Where Time Records Excusably Imprecise Due to Unawareness of Misconduct, Rough Estimate of Fees Allocable to Misconduct Suffices — Fees Reimbursed by Insurance Still “Incurred” Within, And Awardable under § 1927 — Law of The Case Doctrine Inapplicable, Even If Same Issue Involved, Where Different Legally Relevant Factors Are Under Consideration Or Facts Are Different

Chung v. Lamb, 73 F.4th 824 (10th Cir. 2023): After a prior remand to the district court, we review the propriety of that court’s revised award of attorney fees under 28 U.S.C. § 1927, which permits monetary sanction when…
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Spoliation Sanctions: Rule 37(e)(2)’s Intent-To-Deprive Standard Is The Same Bad Faith Standard Historically Applied In Pre- Rule 37 Spoliation Cases And Still Applied In Cases Of Non-Electronic Spoliation — Prejudice To The Defendant Need Not Be Shown Under Rule 37(b)(2) — Even Though Litigation Hold Issued, Bad Faith Reasonable Inferred From Failing To (i) Back Up Text Messages, (ii) Educate Recipients About Litigation Hold, (iii) Collect Cell Phone Data For 7 Months, And (iv) Suspend Policy Of Wiping Data — No Affirmative Act Is Required To Sustain A Finding Of Bad Faith Based On Circumstantial Evidence, Either Under Rule 37(e) Or Bad Faith Case Law

Skanska United States Civil Se. Inc. v. Bagelheads, Inc., 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 19942 (11th Cir. Aug. 2, 2023): *1 Hurricane Sally hit Pensacola Bay with a vengeance in September 2020, and 28 barges moored in the Bay were not…
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Post-Judgment Sanctions — Circuit Split: District Court Lacks Jurisdiction Over Motion for § 1927 Sanctions Made After Appellate Mandate Issues (Appears to Require Motion Prior to Filing of Notice of Appeal) — Post-Mandate Motion Can Seem Like an Ambush of a Losing Party Prepared to Accept a Loss Without a Pending Sanctions Motion — In Accord With All Circuits: District Court Retains Jurisdiction To Entertain Motion To Impose Inherent Power Sanctions Made After Mandate Issues — When a Number of Other Circuits Reject a Circuit’s Position, and No Other Circuit Accepts It, The Interest in Avoiding Inter-Circuit Conflict May Justify Abandoning The Position

Feehan v. Evers, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 19901 (7th Cir. Aug. 2, 2023) (unpublished) ORDER On December 1, 2020, plaintiff-appellee William Feehan filed this suit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. The complaint sought …
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Inherent Power Sanctions (Criminal Case): Punitive Sanctions Awardable Even If Some Non-Frivolous Arguments Are Combined With The Frivolous Arguments — Is Bad Faith A Prerequisite for Inherent Power Sanctions Other Than Attorney Fees? — Factors In Assessing Financial Penalties Include Ability To Pay And Likelihood That Financial Penalty Will Have Some Deterrent Effect

United States v. Akers, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 20142, *1 (10th Cir. Aug. 4, 2023): *1 Montgomery Akers appeals from a district court order imposing upon him a $40,000 punitive sanction for advancing frivolous arguments and assertions in a request …
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INHERENT POWER SANCTIONS FOR INTENTIONAL SPOLIATION OF EVIDENCE: DEFAULT JUDGMENT ON LIABILITY AND CAUSATION, PRECLUSION OF CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE DEFENSE — DETERRENCE IMPORTANT DUE TO SPOLIATOR’S “DEMONSTRATED PATTERN OF ABUSE” — DUE PROCESS SATISFIED BY OPPONENT’S MOTION, WHICH PROVIDED CLEAR NOTICE OF THE FACT SANCTION WERE UNDER CONSIDERATION, THE REASONS WHY, AND THE TYPES OF SANCTIONS BEING CONSIDERED

Anderson v. BNSF Rwy. Co., 2023 WL 4418221 (S.D. Iowa July 6, 2023): INTRODUCTION *1 In this Federal Employers’ Liability Act case, Plaintiff Bradley A. Anderson alleges he was injured when he hit his head on a sign placed too …
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Inherent Power — Do Federal Courts Have the Power to Impose Inherent Power Sanctions in Criminal Cases? — Undecided in Sixth Circuit — Vexatious Litigant Filing Restriction Requires Findings That Party Has Engaged in Repetitive, Frivolous Litigation — Federal Courts Lack Coram Nobis Jurisdiction Over a Criminal Defendant While the Defendant Is In Custody — A Deported Defendant Is Not In Custody, Even If Technically on Supervised Release, Which Typically Counts As “Custody”

United States v. Petlechkov, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 16349, 2023 WL 4230905 (6th Cir. June 28, 2023):   *1 This is Dimitar Petlechkov’s third time before us. He now challenges the final forfeiture order entered in his criminal case…
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Inherent Power — Perils of Protective Orders: Fugitive Defendant Properly Denied Access to Confidential Discovery Materials Because, Having Removed Himself from The Jurisdiction of The District Court, The Court Could Not Enforce the Protective Order Against Him — Discovery Access Limitation Thus a Reasonable Exercise of the Court’s Inherent Authority to Protect Its Own Discovery Orders

United States SEC v. Iftikar A. Ahmed, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 16310, 2023 WL 4219923 (2d Cir. June 28, 2023):   *1 Defendant Iftikar Ahmed defrauded his former employer and its investors of some $65 million over the span…
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Recent Articles

Temporary Restraining Order = Preliminary Injunction: 3 Supreme Court Cases (TRO=PI x 3)

Rule 37(c)(1) Sanctions — Exclusion of Untimely Expert Report — Eighth Circuit’s 4-Factor Test

RICO: So Insubstantial A Claim As to Fail to Confer Subject Matter Jurisdiction

RICO: Distinctiveness Issues Most Likely to Appear When The Enterprise Is An Entity Capable of Being Sued, Like A Corporation

Supreme Court: RICO: (1) Injuries to Business or Property That Derive from a Personal Injury Are Recoverable — (2) “Injury” Is Interchangeable in Meaning with “Harm” And Other Terms Connoting Loss — (3) “The Clayton Act and § 1964(c) Are Not ‘Interchangeable’” (Good Quote)— (4) (4) “You Can’t Replace Something With Nothing” (Good Quote) — (5) The Recoverable Economic Harm Flowing from Personal Injuries, Like All Other Recoverable RICO Harm, Must be Direct — (6)” Harm Resulting from a Single Tort Is Not a Ticket to Federal Court for Treble Damages” (Good Quote)

FRAP 38 Sanctions: Eleventh Circuit Generally Declines to Impose FRAP 38 Sanctions on Pro Se Appellants Absent a History of Frivolous Litigation or an Explicit Warning

Inherent Power Sanctions for Bad Faith in (1) Misrepresenting Patent Ownership in Amended Complaint and (2) Failing to Supplement Discovery Responses to Rectify This after the Discovery Period Had Closed, Both of Which Led to Continued Litigation After One Plaintiff Had Lost Standing — The Duty To Supplement Discovery Responses under Rule 26(e) Continues Even After The Discovery Period Has Closed — Use of Inherent Power to Sanction Violation of Local Rules That Lack Sanctions Provisions (Sanction Reversed on Other Grounds)

Paul Weiss Did The Right Thing

RICO: Unsettled Whether Legal Expenses Constitute Injury to Business or Property in Ninth Circuit — Leave to Amend Must Be Granted Unless 1 or More of 5 Factors Is Present — Request for Judicial Notice of Wikipedia Articles Fails to Satisfy The Standards Fed. R. Evid. 201

FRAP 38 Sanctions Denied Without Prejudice for Lack of Separate Motion

Archives
New York Attorneys JHA handles range the gamut of complex financial and commercial litigation and arbitration, including securities, RICO, corporate and contract disputes, credit default swaps, derivatives, and class, mass, and derivative actions. The firm also represents law firms in major disputes.
New York Attorneys JHA handles range the gamut of complex financial and commercial litigation and arbitration, including securities, RICO, corporate and contract disputes, credit default swaps, derivatives, and class, mass, and derivative actions. The firm also represents law firms in major disputes.

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