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

Joseph Hage Aaronson

Spoliation Sanctions — Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(e) —Adverse Inference — Fifth Circuit Equates “Intent to Deprive Another Party of the Information’s Use in the Litigation” with Its Traditional Test of “‘Bad Faith’ or ‘Bad Conduct’”

Ford v. Anderson Cnty., 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 506 (5th Cir. Jan. 8, 2024) Per Curiam: On June 15, 2018, pretrial detainee Rhonda Newsome died in Anderson County Jail due to complications [*2]  from Addison’s disease. Newsome’s family members filed…
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Criminal Spoliation — Eleventh Circuit Has Never Ruled That A Spoliation Instruction Should Be Given in a Criminal Case, But Holds That Bad Faith Would Be Required Were It Ever To So Rule — Also Surveying Other Circuits’ Law on Criminal Spoliation

United States v. Fey, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 34456 (11th Cir. Dec. 28, 2023): Criminal Spoliation — Eleventh Circuit Has Never Ruled That A Spoliation Instruction Should Be Given in a Criminal Case, But Holds That Bad Faith Would Be …
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Rule 37(d) and 41(b) Dismissal Sanction: (1) Sixth Circuit Factors (Bad Faith/Fault, Prejudice, Warning, Lesser Sanctions Considered); (2) Deliberate Disregard of Court Order Excuses District Court’s Failure to Warn Litigant That Case Could Be Dismissed (Here, Opposing Counsel Had So Warned in Writing); (3) While Lesser Sanctions Should Be Considered, District Court May Dismiss As First And Only Sanction; (4) Type of Misconduct Justifying Dismissal with Prejudice

Moore v. Erickson, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 26639 (6th Cir. Oct. 5, 2023) (unpublished) ORDER *1 In this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action, Anthony Lamont Moore, a former Michigan prisoner proceeding pro se, appeals a district court judgment imposing costs…
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Spoliation Sanctions: Sixth Circuit Standards — Using Residential Funding Framework For Electronic Spoliation — Call to Ethics Hotline Absent Threat of Litigation or Preservation Demand Insufficient to Trigger Duty to Preserve

Goodale v. Elavon, Inc., 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 32861 (6th Cir. Dec. 12, 2023) (unpublished) ORDER Elizabeth Ann Goodale, proceeding through counsel, appeals the district court’s judgment in favor of Elavon, Inc., on her employment-discrimination claims. The parties have waived…
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Disqualification: Lawyers Who Initially Represented A Group of Plaintiffs But Ended Up Representing Only 2 Of Them Because the Group Couldn’t Agree on a Remedy Were Not Subject to Disqualification by Former Clients Because \ Disagreement as to Remedy Was Not Materially Adverse to the Former Clients

Whitest v. Crisp Cnty. Sch. Dist., 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 32934 (11th Cir. Dec. 13, 2023) (unpublished): PER CURIAM: [*2]  On June 14, 2017, Crandall Postell and numerous co-plaintiffs, represented by Bryan L. Sells and ACLU-affiliated attorneys, filed a lawsuit…
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(1) Rule 37 Sanctions: Court’s Discretion Narrows As the Severity of the Sanction Increases; (2) Party Does Not Waive Personal Jurisdiction Defense by Moving to Set Aside Default

Hawkeye Gold, LLC v. China Nat’l Materials Indus. Imp. & Exp. Corp., 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 33531 (8th Cir. Dec. 19, 2023) Appellant Hawkeye Gold, LLC, an Iowa-based seller of livestock feed, brought this action against China National Materials Industry…
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Inherent Power Sanctions/Due Process/Vexatious Litigant Injunction: (1) Pro Se Status Relevant to Considering Whether Due Process Issue Waived Due to Failure to Assert; (2) Party Has a Right to Notice That a Vexatious Litigant Injunction Is Under Consideration and an Opportunity to Be Heard; (3) Prior Warnings of Frivolousness from Other Courts Does Not Afford Notice That Party Is at Risk of Sanction in Present Court (i.e., Distinguishing Notice of Frivolousness from Due Process Notice of Risk of Sanction)

Allen v. United States, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 33380 (Fed. Cir. Dec. 28, 2023)   Per Curiam. *1 Derrick Allen filed a pro se complaint in the Court of Federal Claims alleging that the Clerk’s Office in the United States District…
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(1) Party May Simultaneously Claim Privilege And Dispute Document’s Authenticity; (2) No Per Se Waiver Rule When Privilege Log Is Not Produced; (3) Fact Opponent Actually Possesses Challenged Documents Significantly Affects Log Analysis; (4) Inherent Power Sanctions: Ninth Circuit Factors

Mayorga v. Ronaldo, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 30921 (9th Cir. Nov. 21, 2023) (unpublished):  MEMORANDUM* In 2010, Defendant-Appellee Cristiano Ronaldo (“Ronaldo”) settled a sexual assault claim made against him by Plaintiff-Appellant Kathryn Mayorga (“Mayorga”). The matter lay dormant until…
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Recent Articles

RICO Statute of Limitations — Storm Warnings, Not Thunder and Lightning (Good Quote)

Rule 37 Discovery Sanctions: Ninth Circuit’s Five-Factor Test for Gauging Appropriateness of Dismissal — The Limited Utility of Rule 12(f) Motions to Strike

RICO: Employer Suffered Harm to Business or Property When Kickbacks Paid to Employees in Real Estate Transactions Done for Employer — Expert Testimony Sufficient to Prove Harm — Proof That Employer Paid Above-Market Prices Not Essential — Non-Disclosure of Certain Damages in Initial Disclosures Cured by Expert Report, Which Also Rendered Initial Non-Disclosure Harmless

Spoliation: Dismissal Under Rule 37(e)(2) and Monetary Sanctions Under Rule 37(e)(1), Implicitly Reading The “Or” Between 37(e)(1) and 37(e)(2) As Conjunctive, Not Disjunctive — Clear Error Standard of Review for District Court’s Intent (= Bad Faith) Finding under 37(e)(2)(C) — Additional Monetary Sanctions Imposed on Claimants under 28 U.S.C. § 1927 and Rule 37(a)(5) — No Right to Jury Determination of Intent under Rule 37(e)(2) — “Substantially Justified” in Rule 37(a)(5) Has Same Meaning As In Equal Access to Justice Act and Thus Rule 11 — Meaning of “Unreasonable and Vexatious” in 7th Circuit

Inherent 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

Rule 37 Default Judgment — Tenth Circuit Multifactor Test Is Not Exhaustive But a Non-Exclusive List of “Sometimes-Helpful Criteria Or Guide Posts”— Appeal from Preliminary Injunction Mooted by Entry of Permanent Injunction — Difficulty in Collecting Damages Award May Equal Irreparable Injury — A Monetary Award For Past Conduct Does Not Preclude A Permanent Injunction Against Similar Wrongful Conduct Likely To Occur In The Future

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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