Joseph Hage Aaronson

Sanctions: Court May Dismiss with Prejudice Even after Voluntarily Dismissal without Prejudice under Rule 41 — Mortgage with Bank ≠ Grounds to Recuse — Judges Not Obliged to Make Greater Financial Disclosure Than Statute Requires

Zow v. Regions Fin’l Corp., 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 23321 (11th Cir. Dec. 11, 2014): James Allen Zow, Sr. and Veronica Zow appeal the dismissal of their case with prejudice as a sanction for being in contempt of a discovery…

Sanctions — Supreme Court Indicates Bankruptcy Courts May Be Empowered to Issue Inherent Power Sanctions — No Question That They May Sanction under § 1927

Dahiya v. Kramer (In re Khan), 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 1792 (2d Cir. Feb. 5, 2015): Dahiya argues as a threshold matter that the bankruptcy court lacked the authority to sanction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1927 and its inherent…

Rule 11 Sanctions — Pre-Dismissal Letter Is Insufficient to Satisfy Safe Harbor and Post-Dismissal Motion Is Untimely

Penn, LLC, et al. v. Prosper Bus. Dev. Corp., 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 23368 (6th Cir. Dec. 12, 2014): In this dispute over the management of a joint venture, Defendants-Appellants James E. Arnold & Associates and the firm's eponymous partner…

Texts Authenticated by Recipient’s Testimony, Messages That Included Photo of Sender, ID’ed a Person Both Knew & by Evidence Phone Was Used to Contact Others Who Knew Sender and That Address for Phone Was a Former Address of Sender’s

Jackson v. State, 2015 Tex. App. LEXIS 6126 (Tex. App. June 17, 2015): II. MOTION TO SUPPRESS In his first issue, Jackson contends the trial court abused its discretion in denying his motion to suppress certain cell phone records and …

Rule 37 Sanctions — Dismissal for Repeated Failure to Appear for Court-Ordered Deposition — 4-Factor Test (2d Circuit) — While Pro Se Is Due Special Solicitude, He or She Is Not Immune to Dismissal, If Willfulness, Bad Faith or Fault Is Found

Davis v. Citibank, N.A., 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 10524 (2d Cir. June 23, 2015): If a party fails to attend its own deposition, the district court may, inter alia, dismiss the action and [*2] order the party to pay reasonable …

Rule 11 — Failure to Issue Order to Show Cause Bars Sua Sponte Sanction — No Bad Faith Required in 6th Circuit for § 1927 Sanctions; Recklessness Enough, Even Absent “Conscious Impropriety”

Oakstone Community School v. Williams, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 10143 (6th Cir. June 12, 2015): What began as a case about a child's education has needlessly devolved into a dispute about attorney's fees and unjustified sanctions. After prevailing in an…

Spoliation — Bad Faith Required for Adverse Inference Instruction in Eleventh Circuit — Speculation Insufficient to Prove Bad Faith — Judicial Notice of Internet Evidence — Reference Book (Oxford English Dictionary)

Horton v. Maersk Line, Ltd., 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 3033 (11th Cir. Feb. 27, 2015): On the morning of March 18, 2011, plaintiff-appellant John Horton ("Plaintiff"), a longshoreman, was working aboard the M/V Sealand Champion when a crane operator, placing…

Authentication of Entries in Cell Phone’s User Text Dictionary Requires Circumstantial Evidence That Owner Was the Person Who Entered the Words into His or Her Phone

Wilcock v. State, 2015 Nev. Unpub. LEXIS 652 (Nev. Sup. Ct. May 29, 2015): This is an appeal from a judgment of conviction, pursuant to a jury verdict, of one count of first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon,…

§ 1927 Sanctions — Due Process — Failure to Grant Oral Argument = Abuse of Discretion Where Different Judges Presided over Case, Significant Sanction Imposed and Given Unspecified “Particulars of This Action”

Smith v. Banner Health Sys., 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 10191 (9th Cir. June 17, 2015): Smith appeals from the district court's order granting summary judgment in favor of defendants Banner Health Systems and its employee Dr. Scott Elton (collectively "Banner"),…

Rule 11 Sanctions — Refiling Impertinent, Scandalous Allegations, Despite Warning, Violates 11(b)(1) — Refiling and Issuing Multiple Subpoenas Suggests Improper Purpose — No Rule 38 Sanctions If Chances Are Merely Slim

Marceaux v. Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Govt., 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 9540 (5th Cir. June 8, 2015): Plaintiffs are fifteen current and former officers of the Lafayette Police Department suing the local government, the department, and other officers and city officials…

Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

Sanctions: Court May Dismiss with Prejudice Even after Voluntarily Dismissal without Prejudice under Rule 41 — Mortgage with Bank ≠ Grounds to Recuse — Judges Not Obliged to Make Greater Financial Disclosure Than Statute Requires

Sanctions — Supreme Court Indicates Bankruptcy Courts May Be Empowered to Issue Inherent Power Sanctions — No Question That They May Sanction under § 1927

Rule 11 Sanctions — Pre-Dismissal Letter Is Insufficient to Satisfy Safe Harbor and Post-Dismissal Motion Is Untimely

Texts Authenticated by Recipient’s Testimony, Messages That Included Photo of Sender, ID’ed a Person Both Knew & by Evidence Phone Was Used to Contact Others Who Knew Sender and That Address for Phone Was a Former Address of Sender’s

Rule 37 Sanctions — Dismissal for Repeated Failure to Appear for Court-Ordered Deposition — 4-Factor Test (2d Circuit) — While Pro Se Is Due Special Solicitude, He or She Is Not Immune to Dismissal, If Willfulness, Bad Faith or Fault Is Found

Rule 11 — Failure to Issue Order to Show Cause Bars Sua Sponte Sanction — No Bad Faith Required in 6th Circuit for § 1927 Sanctions; Recklessness Enough, Even Absent “Conscious Impropriety”

Spoliation — Bad Faith Required for Adverse Inference Instruction in Eleventh Circuit — Speculation Insufficient to Prove Bad Faith — Judicial Notice of Internet Evidence — Reference Book (Oxford English Dictionary)

Authentication of Entries in Cell Phone’s User Text Dictionary Requires Circumstantial Evidence That Owner Was the Person Who Entered the Words into His or Her Phone

§ 1927 Sanctions — Due Process — Failure to Grant Oral Argument = Abuse of Discretion Where Different Judges Presided over Case, Significant Sanction Imposed and Given Unspecified “Particulars of This Action”

Rule 11 Sanctions — Refiling Impertinent, Scandalous Allegations, Despite Warning, Violates 11(b)(1) — Refiling and Issuing Multiple Subpoenas Suggests Improper Purpose — No Rule 38 Sanctions If Chances Are Merely Slim

Recent Articles

nherent Power Sanction of Dismissal — Preponderance of the Evidence Burden of Proof, Not Clear and Convincing Evidence (7th Circuit)

§ 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

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