Joseph Hage Aaronson

28 U.S.C. § 1782: Does a Magistrate Judge Have Jurisdiction to Issue a Final Order to Compel Discovery or May the MJ Issue Only a Report & Recommendation? — Circuit Split

Ex Parte Application of Godfrey, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29794 (S.D. Fla. Feb. 22, 2018): REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON RESPONDENT'S MOTION TO QUASH SUBPOENA AND PETITIONERS' MOTION TO COMPEL COMPLIANCE WITH SUBPOENA Respondent Stephen P. Lynch moves to quash the…

Diversity Jurisdiction — Defective Allegations May Be Amended in Court of Appeals under 28 U.S.C. § 1653 — Opportunity to Amend Freely Given

Maitland v. Fishbein, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 4591 (2d Cir. Feb. 26, 2018): UPON DUE CONSIDERATION, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED, ANDDECREED that the judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED IN PART and VACATED IN PART, and…

No § 1927 Sanctions for Conduct in Other Court (Here, Dist. Ct. on App.) — Rule 11 Inapt on Appeal — No Rule 38 Sanctions for Meritless But Not Frivolous Appeal — Rule 15(a) vs. (d): Is Leave to Supplement As Freely Granted as to Amend?

Connor v. Castro, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 4511 (5th Cir. Feb. 23, 2018): PER CURIAM:* * Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the…

Rule 408 Yields (Mostly) to Court’s Ongoing Supervision over Injunction — Rule 407 Inapt If Feasibility Denied — Law of the Case & Mandate Rule Bar Reexamination by Dist. or App. Ct. of Issue Decided on Prior Appeal — Exceptions

Ball v. LeBlanci, 881 F.3d 346, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 2402, 2018 WL 632503 (5th Cir. 2018): Elzie Ball, Nathaniel Code, and James Magee are death row inmates in the Louisiana State Penitentiary ("LSP") and are housed in cells without …

Rule 11 Sanctions: Assertions of Fact “Not Entirely Inaccurate” Don’t Show “Deliberate Indifference to Obvious Facts” and Aren’t Sanctionable

Benedek v. Adams, 2018 WL 823983 (11th Cir. Feb. 12, 2018): *1 Dezso and Ann Benedek (collectively, “the Benedeks”) appeal the district court’s denial of Fed. R. Civ. P. 11 sanctions against the defendants and the court’s Fed. R. Civ. …

Rule 11—Where Detailed SJ Opinion Puts Plaintiff on Notice of Legal Deficiency of Claim, Fact Leave to Appeal Granted Doesn’t Preclude Sanctions for Filing Amended Complaint without Addressing Deficiency — FRAP 38 Sanctions for Same on Appeal

Debeikes v. Hawaiian Airlines, Inc., 2018 WL 991377 (9th Cir. Feb. 21, 2018): MEMORANDUM** *1 Matthew J. Debeikes appeals from the district court’s grant of summary judgment and challenges its denial of his request to reopen discovery. He also,…

RICO: Pari Delicto Defense—Factors—Bars Claim by Plaintiffs Who Participated in Scheme to Prescribe Them Opioids Illegally— Analogous Wrongful Conduct Doctrine (N.M.) Bars State Law Claims

Inge v. McClelland, 2018 WL 985740 (10th Cir. Feb. 20, 2018): *1 Elizabeth and Johnny Inge appeal the district court’s dismissal of their claims against Robert McClelland, III, a pharmacist licensed in New Mexico who dispensed opioids and other narcotics…

Texts Authenticated by Fact Phone Was on Def or in Car He Was in, Incoming Texts Use His Name, Outgoing Gives His Home Phone, Car Had Drugs & Texts Mentioned Drugs — Offer to Buy Not Hearsay — Photos Auth’d by Contents, Phone Calls by Whom You Called

Texts Authenticated by Fact Phone Was Found on Def or in Car He Was in, Incoming Texts Addressed to Him, Outgoing Text Gave His Home Phone, Car Had Drugs & Texts Mentioned Drugs — Authentication of Photos by Contents, Phone …

Rule 37 Sanctions: Where “Discovery … Was Protracted, Contentious, and Difficult” (Good Quote) But Party Ultimately Received What It Sought, No Abuse of Discretion to Deny Sanctions

Securiforce Int’l Am., LLC v. United States, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 1073 (Fed. Cir. Jan. 17, 2018): Securiforce International America, LLC ("Securiforce"), a government contractor, filed suit in the Court of Federal Claims ("Claims Court") under the Tucker Act, 28…

RICO — Each Check Deposited in a Kiting Scheme Is a Separate Fraud — Kiting Scheme Is Related to Underlying Fraud It Is Used to Disguise — SJ Must Be Warranted on Facts Even If Default — No Response to Statement of Undisputed Facts Admits It

Liberty Bell Bank v. Rogers, 2018 WL 834197 (3d Cir. Feb. 13, 2018): OPINION* PER CURIAM *1 Appellant Luis G. Rogers appeals from the District Court’s orders granting Appellee Liberty Bell Bank’s motion for summary judgment and awarding more than…

Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

28 U.S.C. § 1782: Does a Magistrate Judge Have Jurisdiction to Issue a Final Order to Compel Discovery or May the MJ Issue Only a Report & Recommendation? — Circuit Split

Diversity Jurisdiction — Defective Allegations May Be Amended in Court of Appeals under 28 U.S.C. § 1653 — Opportunity to Amend Freely Given

No § 1927 Sanctions for Conduct in Other Court (Here, Dist. Ct. on App.) — Rule 11 Inapt on Appeal — No Rule 38 Sanctions for Meritless But Not Frivolous Appeal — Rule 15(a) vs. (d): Is Leave to Supplement As Freely Granted as to Amend?

Rule 408 Yields (Mostly) to Court’s Ongoing Supervision over Injunction — Rule 407 Inapt If Feasibility Denied — Law of the Case & Mandate Rule Bar Reexamination by Dist. or App. Ct. of Issue Decided on Prior Appeal — Exceptions

Rule 11 Sanctions: Assertions of Fact “Not Entirely Inaccurate” Don’t Show “Deliberate Indifference to Obvious Facts” and Aren’t Sanctionable

Rule 11—Where Detailed SJ Opinion Puts Plaintiff on Notice of Legal Deficiency of Claim, Fact Leave to Appeal Granted Doesn’t Preclude Sanctions for Filing Amended Complaint without Addressing Deficiency — FRAP 38 Sanctions for Same on Appeal

RICO: Pari Delicto Defense—Factors—Bars Claim by Plaintiffs Who Participated in Scheme to Prescribe Them Opioids Illegally— Analogous Wrongful Conduct Doctrine (N.M.) Bars State Law Claims

Texts Authenticated by Fact Phone Was on Def or in Car He Was in, Incoming Texts Use His Name, Outgoing Gives His Home Phone, Car Had Drugs & Texts Mentioned Drugs — Offer to Buy Not Hearsay — Photos Auth’d by Contents, Phone Calls by Whom You Called

Rule 37 Sanctions: Where “Discovery … Was Protracted, Contentious, and Difficult” (Good Quote) But Party Ultimately Received What It Sought, No Abuse of Discretion to Deny Sanctions

RICO — Each Check Deposited in a Kiting Scheme Is a Separate Fraud — Kiting Scheme Is Related to Underlying Fraud It Is Used to Disguise — SJ Must Be Warranted on Facts Even If Default — No Response to Statement of Undisputed Facts Admits It

Recent Articles

§ 1927 Sanctions — Must A Lawyer Who Unreasonably and Vexatiously Multiplies Federal Court Proceedings Be Acting “As An Attorney” When Committing the Misconduct To Be Subject to Sanction under § 1927?

Rule 37 Sanctions — Unfamiliarity With Litigation Process Does Not Excuse Intentional Disregard of Court Order — Also Affirming Rule 26(g) Sanctions on Clients and Counsel for False Representations That All Responsive Documents Had Been Produced

Supreme Court: Notice of Appeal Filed After The Original Deadline But Before Reopening by The District Court Is Timely — It Relates Forward to The Date of The Order Making The Appeal Possible — Second Notice of Appeal After Reopening Unnecessary

Rule 37 Default Judgment: Second Circuit’s Four-Factor Test for Imposing Defaults and Three-Factor Test for Lifting Them

RICO: Cover-Up Within Limitations Period of Untimely RICO Violation “Was Merely A Continuation” Of The Original Injury And Could Not Be Used “As A ‘Bootstrap’ To Salvage [The] Time-Barred Claims–Declining to Apply Pinkerton Doctrine to Civil RICO Claims

Inherent Power — Circumstantial Evidence — Fact That Bad Faith May Be Shown by Establishing That Conduct Was So Egregious It Was Necessarily Committed in Bad Faith Does Not Mean That Bad Faith Must Be The Sole Explanation for The Bad Conduct

RICO Causation: Testing Labs’ Misstatements As to Alcohol Tests’ Efficacy Not Communicated to Plaintiffs’ Employers Did Not Cause Plaintiffs’ Professional Harm

Rule 37(d) Sanctions — For Failure to Serve Answers, Objections, Or Written Response to Discovery Requests — Are Not Limited to Intentional Misconduct; Even Innocent Mistakes May Be Covered

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