Joseph Hage Aaronson

Emails and Texts Authenticated by Testimony from Recipient That She Recognized Email Address and Phone Number As That of Sender and That Messages Contained Information Only the Two of Them Knew

Harsley v. State, 2015 Ind. App. Unpub. LEXIS 169 (Ind. Ct. App. Feb. 18, 2015): [1] Following a bench trial, Mark B. Harsley II was found guilty of three counts of invasion of privacy, all Class A misdemeanors. He…

Erie Doctrine: Where State Supreme Court Has Not Spoken, Federal Courts Are Bound by Decisions of State Intermediate Appellate Courts Absent Persuasive Evidence That Supreme Court Would Disagree

Burgess v. Religious Tech. Ctr., Inc., 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 1162 (11th Cir. Jan. 26, 2015): To determine whether the district court had personal jurisdiction over RTC, we consider two issues: (1) whether personal jurisdiction exists under the Georgia Long-Arm…

RICO — Nondisclosure Can Support a Mail or Wire Fraud Predicate Only If There Exists an Independent Duty to Disclose That Has Been Breached — Court May Deny Costs under Rule 54(d) to Prevailing Party But Must Explain Denial

Eller v. EquiTrust Life Ins. Co., 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 2717 (9th Cir. Feb. 24, 2015): A RICO claim requires "racketeering activity (known as predicate acts)." Living Designs, Inc. v. E.I. Dupont de Nemours & Co., 431 F.3d 353, 361…

Pro Hac Vice Admission Fees Are Not Taxable by a Prevailing Party under 28 U.S.C. § 1920 — Circuit Split —Issue: Must an Opponent Underwrite a Decision to Be Represented by Unadmitted Counsel?

PPL Energy Plus, LLC v. Clerk’s Robt. M. Hanna, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 178285 (D.N.J. Dec. 30, 2014): Pro Hac Vice Admission Fees Plaintiffs seek the $1,200 cost of the admission pro hac vice of eight attorneys at the rate…

Rule 68 Offer of Judgment — Time to Respond Not Extended to End of Discovery Despite Uncertainty as to Facts — Delay Apt Only If No Costs to Be Incurred — Offer for All Statutory Damages ≠ Complete Relief If Actual Damages Also Sought

Wallert v. Atlan, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13958 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 5, 2015) (Engelmayer, J.): In this copyright infringement action, the Court has received several letters regarding a Rule 68 Offer of Judgment (the "offer") served on plaintiff Charles Wallert by…

Facebook Authentication from Contents: Nonpublic Details of Life; References to Girlfriend and Brothers; Photo; Cell Number; Nickname; Structure & Style of Comments Match Texts — Out of Court Admission of Ownership

Moore v. State, 295 Ga. 709, 763 S.E.2d 670 (2014): Appellant Patrick Ramon Moore was convicted by a jury of murder and related offenses for the January 3, 2011 shootings of Erica Peterson, Fabian Ellis, and Jervod Jarvis, and shooting …

Even If § 1927 Sanctions Are Barred for Filing Complaint, They Apply to Adversary Action, Part of a Larger Bankruptcy — 4-Factor 1927 Test — Suit Based on Adversary’s Error Quickly Corrected, Avoidable with Phone Call, Violates 1927

Prosser v. Gerber (In re Prosser), 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 1180 (3d Cir. Jan. 26, 2015): James P. Carroll, trustee of debtor Jeffrey J. Prosser's bankruptcy estate, appeals the District Court's order vacating the Bankruptcy Court's imposition of 28 U.S.C. …

Erie Doctrine: Other Circuits Will Defer to Analysis of State Law by State’s Home Circuit, Unless the Latter Has Disregarded Clear Signals from the State’s Highest Court — Odd to Create Circuit Split Over State Law (Good Quote)

Sutherland v. DCC Litig. Facility, Inc. (In re Dow Corning Corp.), 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 2600 (6th Cir. Feb. 20, 2015): In resolving issues of state law, the panel looks to "the final decisions of that state's highest court, and…

Summary Judgment — Post-2010, Don’t Move to Strike Evidence But Object — Affidavit Needn’t State Competence, Knowledge — Presumption Officer Knows Corporate Acts — Customer Email Complaints Authenticated by Contents, Circumstances

OFI Int’l, Inc. v. Port Newark Refrigerated Warehouse, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2926 (D.N.J. Jan. 12, 2015): Plaintiffs OFI International, Inc. ("OFI") and Watermark Foods, Inc. ("Watermark") filed this action against Defendant Hudson Refrigeration Company d/b/a Port Newark Refrigerated Warehouse…

Interest on Sanctions Award Only from Time of Quantified Order — 2 Evidentiary Standards for Inherent Power Sanctions — Meaning of Abuse of Discretion, Substantially Justified (D.C. Cir.) — Sanctions Affirmable Only on Grounds Articulated Below

Parsi v. Daioleslam, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 2046 (D.C. Cir. Feb. 10, 2015): Following an acrimonious, three-year discovery process, the District Court awarded $183,480.09 in monetary sanctions to Appellee Seid Hassan Daioleslam for attorney's fees and expenses he accrued in…

Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

Emails and Texts Authenticated by Testimony from Recipient That She Recognized Email Address and Phone Number As That of Sender and That Messages Contained Information Only the Two of Them Knew

Erie Doctrine: Where State Supreme Court Has Not Spoken, Federal Courts Are Bound by Decisions of State Intermediate Appellate Courts Absent Persuasive Evidence That Supreme Court Would Disagree

RICO — Nondisclosure Can Support a Mail or Wire Fraud Predicate Only If There Exists an Independent Duty to Disclose That Has Been Breached — Court May Deny Costs under Rule 54(d) to Prevailing Party But Must Explain Denial

Pro Hac Vice Admission Fees Are Not Taxable by a Prevailing Party under 28 U.S.C. § 1920 — Circuit Split —Issue: Must an Opponent Underwrite a Decision to Be Represented by Unadmitted Counsel?

Rule 68 Offer of Judgment — Time to Respond Not Extended to End of Discovery Despite Uncertainty as to Facts — Delay Apt Only If No Costs to Be Incurred — Offer for All Statutory Damages ≠ Complete Relief If Actual Damages Also Sought

Facebook Authentication from Contents: Nonpublic Details of Life; References to Girlfriend and Brothers; Photo; Cell Number; Nickname; Structure & Style of Comments Match Texts — Out of Court Admission of Ownership

Even If § 1927 Sanctions Are Barred for Filing Complaint, They Apply to Adversary Action, Part of a Larger Bankruptcy — 4-Factor 1927 Test — Suit Based on Adversary’s Error Quickly Corrected, Avoidable with Phone Call, Violates 1927

Erie Doctrine: Other Circuits Will Defer to Analysis of State Law by State’s Home Circuit, Unless the Latter Has Disregarded Clear Signals from the State’s Highest Court — Odd to Create Circuit Split Over State Law (Good Quote)

Summary Judgment — Post-2010, Don’t Move to Strike Evidence But Object — Affidavit Needn’t State Competence, Knowledge — Presumption Officer Knows Corporate Acts — Customer Email Complaints Authenticated by Contents, Circumstances

Interest on Sanctions Award Only from Time of Quantified Order — 2 Evidentiary Standards for Inherent Power Sanctions — Meaning of Abuse of Discretion, Substantially Justified (D.C. Cir.) — Sanctions Affirmable Only on Grounds Articulated Below

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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