Joseph Hage Aaronson

Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

Arbitration: Public Policy Defense to Enforcement in N.Y. Convention Is Very Narrow — Must Be Explicit, Well-Defined, Dominant — Must Violate Most Basic Notions of Morality — Loss of Federal Statutory Claim Not Enough

Cvoro v. Carnival Corp., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 30940 (11th Cir. Oct. 17, 2019): Plaintiff Sladjana Cvoro appeals the district court's denial of her petition to "vacate and/or alternatively to deny recognition and enforcement" of the foreign arbitral award in…

RICO Extortion: Hobbs Act Requires Plaintiff Part with $ — Not Enough to Claim Right to $ Def Possesses — “Wrongful” Requires Def Have No Lawful Claim to $ in Dispute — Market Power Alone Doesn’t Invalidate Contract Freely Entered (Good Quote)

Crawford's Auto Ctr. v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 37964, 2019 WL 6974428 (11th Cir. Dec. 20, 2019): *1 Plaintiffs Crawford’s Auto Center, Inc. and K & M Collision, LLC are two auto body …

Spoliation Sanctions: Seventh Circuit Requires Bad Faith Based on Pre-37(e) Case Law, While Citing Rule 37(e) Which Does Not Require It — Is a Video “Electronically-Stored Information?”

Conner v. Rubin-Asch, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 32880 (7th Cir. Nov. 4, 2019) (unpublished): Eric Conner, a Wisconsin inmate, sued a prison psychologist and eight correctional officers for retaliation and deliberate indifference because they removed him from clinical observation, despite…

12(b)(6) Dismissal Motion: Judicial Notice of News Reports & Non-Official Websites, including YouTube & Wikipedia, Only to Establish What Was in Public Realm, Not for Truth — Motion Converted to SJ to Consider Truth

Strojnik v. Azul Hosp. Grp., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 207424 (E.D.N.Y. Dec. 2, 2019): Plaintiff is proceeding in this matter pro se, but he is licensed as an attorney in the state of California; pre-trial proceedings are accordingly referred to …

Summary Judgment: Mere Denial of Statement of Undisputed Fact (SUF) without Actually Rejecting Paragraphs Responded to Properly Deemed Admissions — Attempt to Create Appearance of Factual Disputes = Sanctionalbe Non-Compliance with SUF Local Rule

Rau v. Allstate Fire & Cas. Ins. Co., 2019 WL 6358755 (3d Cir. Nov. 27, 2019) (non-precedential): *1 Appellant Rau claims that Allstate handled her underinsured motorist claim in bad faith, in violation of 42 Pa. C.S.A. § 8371. …

Hague Service Convention Article 15 Applies Only to Service of Process on Non-Parties, Not to Service of Documents on Participant in Existing Action

Lynch v. Mascini Holdings Ltd. (In re Kirwan Offices S.à.r.L.), 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 38068 (2d Cir. Dec. 20, 2019) (unpublished): SUMMARY ORDER UPON DUE CONSIDERATION, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that the judgment of the district court …

Supreme Court: Attorney’s Fees [Non-Sanctions] — American Rule Not Limited to Prevailing-Party Statutes — Absence of Specific Reference to Attorney’s Fees Not Dispositive — “Expenses of Litigation” = Expensae Litis = Costs

Peter v. NantKwest, Inc., 205 L. Ed. 2d 304 (2019): Section 145 of the Patent Act affords applicants “dissatisfied with the decision of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board” an opportunity to file a civil action in the United States …

Sanctions: Rule 37(b)(2) Dismissal OK Only If Violation of Discovery Order Is Fault of Client, Not Lawyer — Ordering Discovery Is Not A “Lesser Sanction” under Rule 41

Johnson v. Jones, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 36969 (5th Cir. Dec. 13, 2019) (unpublished): PER CURIAM:* Ron Johnson appeals the with-prejudice dismissal of his civil rights lawsuit. The district court dismissed the case as a sanction under Federal Rules …

Standing: In Consumer Fraud Case, Plaintiffs’ Claim They Wouldn’t Have Bought Product But for Deceptive Claims and Failure to Disclose Known Risks Constitutes Injury in Fact for Standing Purposes

Painters & Allied Trades Dist. Council 82 v. Takeda Pharm. Co. Ltd., 2019 WL 6498270 (9th Cir. Dec. 3, 2019): MEMORANDUM** *1 Plaintiffs, individual patients and third-party payor Painters and Allied Trades District Council 82 Health Care Fund, appeal…

§ 1782: Availability of Requested Information in Foreign Jurisdiction Irrelevant If Person from Whom Discovery Is Sought Is Unavailable There — Indicia of Sufficient Certainty of Contemplated Foreign Proceeding (Affidavit of Foreign Counsel Suffices)

In re Top Matrix Holdings Ltd. for an Order to Take Discovery for Use in a Foreign Proceeding Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1782, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 210264 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 2, 2019): Top Matrix Holdings Ltd. ("Top Matrix" or…

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Recent Articles

RICO — Pleading Conspiracy — Plaintiffs Must Plausibly Allege That the Defendants Knowingly Joined the RICO Conspiracy — Sparse Allegations of Knowledge of Fraud Due to Participation in a Commercial Transaction Insufficient to State RICO Conspiracy Claim Where Allegations Not Inconsistent with Ordinary Commercial Behavior — While Knowledge May Be Pled “Generally” under Rule 9(b), It Cannot Be Alleged Conclusorily and Must Satisfy the Twiqbal Plausibility Standard

Depositions: Improper to Object to Form to Straightforward Questions (Not Compound, Vague, Leading or Speculative) — Lack of Foundation Objection Improper in 30(b)(6) Deposition — Improper to “Educate” Witness During Breaks of 30(b)(6) Deposition Through Witness Calls to Knowledgeable Corporate Colleagues — Magistrate Judge May Impose Financial Sanctions

Spoliation/Sanctions: “A Party Does Not Spoliate Evidence When, Without Notice Of The Evidence’s Potential Relevance, It Destroys The Evidence According To Its Policy Or In The Normal Course Of Its Business” (Good Quote)

RICO: Fraud on Government Entities Causing Plaintiffs to Pay More for Inmate Calls Actionable on Bridge v. Phoenix Bond Analysis — Fact That Governments Had Separate Injuries As Part of the Scheme (from Reduced Commissions) Irrelevant — Plaintiffs’ Injuries Not Derivative of Governments’ — The Fraud on the Governments Was Not Too Distinct From Plaintiffs’ Injuries But Rather Necessary to Injure Plaintiffs — No Risk of Duplicative Recoveries and No Plaintiff Better Situated to Sue for Plaintiffs’ Injuries

Inherent Power Sanctions — Dismissal for Threatening Defendant and Magistrate Judge — No First Amendment Right to Threaten Violence

RICO: Domestic Injury — Delivery of Fraudulently Non-Conforming Goods FOB Los Angeles for Shipment to China Means Injury Arose Domestically When Purchaser Took Title —Other Relevant Factors Include That The Non-Conforming Goods Were Sourced and Made in the U.S. and The Racketeering Activity (Mail/Wire Fraud) Occurred in, and Was Directed from, the United States — Irrelevant to Domestic Injury Inquiry Whether Property Is Tangible or Intangible — 7th Circuit’s “Injury-Felt” Test of Domestic Injury Rejected by Supreme Court — RICO Standing Requires Concrete Financial Loss, Not Merely Injury to Valuable Intangible Property Interest (9th Circuit)

RICO Causation: Parents of Children with Disabilities Deprived In-Person Education and Services during the Pandemic Were Not Causally Injured by Teachers’ False Assurances to Federal Authorities That IDEA-Complaint Policies Were in Place, Which Caused Funds to Issue But Not to the Benefit of the Disabled Children — Damages Too Indirect — Proper Plaintiff Is U.S. Government — Private Injunctive Relief Under RICO Uncertain in Third Circuit

Sanctions: Rule 37(b)(2) Dismissal — Sixth Circuit Factors

Inherent Power Sanctions — Extrajudicial Misconduct: Sanctions Power Extends to Conduct Intended to Sabotage Court’s Ability to Adjudicate the Case Before It, Here, By Commencing State Court Actions Seeking to Enjoin the Federal Plaintiffs from Proceeding with Their Federal Litigation — Sanctions Fee Awards: The Factors Used For Calculating A Fee Award To A Prevailing Party Do Not Govern — Under Goodyear, the Relevant Inquiry Is Whether There Is A Sufficient Causal Link Between The Sanctioned Misconduct And The Fees Awarded

RICO: Members of Association-in-Fact Enterprise Must Act with a Common Purpose—Mere Allegation That Various Defendants Agreed at Different Times to Engage in Various Fraudulent Schemes Does Not Plausibly Support the Essential Inference, That They Acted with s Sufficiently Common Purpose

Commercial Litigation and Arbitration