Joseph Hage Aaronson

Failure to File Written Objection to Magistrate Judge R&R Waives Review of Dist. Ct’s Judgment Is Not Jurisdictional & May Be Disregarded — Especially When Dist. Ct. Has Disregarded It, Too — Sanctions: Vexatious Litigant Injunction

Bonds v. Daley, 2019 WL 2647494 (6th Cir. May 17, 2019): ORDER *1 Todd Bonds, a pro se litigant, appeals the district court’s judgment denying his motion for summary judgment, granting the defendants’ motion for summary judgment, and granting the …

Social Media Photo Properly Authenticated by Person Who Has Seen Subject of Photo in Same Garb in Person and in Footage That Subject Has Admitted Depicts Him

Commonwealth v. Kelley, 2019 Pa. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 2531 (Pa. Super. Ct. June 28, 2019): Robert Leon Kelley, Jr. ("Kelley"), appeals from the judgment of sentence imposed following his convictions of one count of theft by unlawful taking, and three…

Rule 11 Sanctions Apt for Frivolous $160 Million Damages Claims (inter alia) — “Sanctions Are Warranted When a Party Exhibits Deliberate Indifference to Obvious Facts” (Good Quote)

EMI Sun Village, Inc. v. Catledge, 2019 WL 2714325 (11th Cir. June 28, 2019) (unpublished): In this appeal, Fred Elliott and several entities under his control challenge the district court’s order setting aside the entry of default and dismissing one…

Strong Presumption of Public Access to SJ Materials Unaffected by Denial of SJ — Lesser (But Substantial) Presumption re Discovery, In Limine, Non-Dispositive Motions — “Unscrupulous Litigants Can Weaponize Discovery” (Good Quote)

Julie Brown v. Maxwell, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 19981 (2d Cir. July 3, 2019): Intervenors-Appellants Alan M. Dershowitz ("Dershowitz"), Michael Cernovich ("Cernovich"), and the Miami Herald Company (with reporter Julie Brown, jointly the "Herald") appeal from certain orders of the …

Photos of Texts Functionally Equivalent to Printouts of Emails and Satisfy Best Evidence Rule

State v. Clark, 2019 Kan. App. Unpub. LEXIS 449 (Kan. Ct. App. July 5, 2019): Per Curiam: At the end of a five-day trial, a jury in Leavenworth County District Court found Nicholas Arthur Clark guilty of two counts of…

Spoliation — Unexplained Failure to Produce Relevant Doc Created after Litigation Reasonably Foreseeable Entitled Adversary to At Least Permissive Adverse Inference — One Factor in Reversal of SJ

Iyoha v. Architect of the Capitol, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 19755 (D.C. Cir. July 2, 2019): In 2012, the Congressional Office of Compliance determined that the Architect of the Capitol unlawfully transferred appellant Sunday Iyoha because of his national origin.…

R. 30(d)(3), §1927, Inherent Power Sanctions for Deposition Obstruction: “Calls for Speculation,” “Don’t Guess,” “You Can Answer If You Understand,” “Not Qualified to Answer” / Improper Instructions Not to Answer

In re Ford Motor Co. DPS6 Powershift Transmission Prods. Liab. Litig., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91557 (C.D. Cal. May 13, 2019): ORDER GRANTING IN PART FORD MOTOR COMPANY'S MOTION FOR SANCTIONS AGAINST PLAINTIFF'S COUNSEL On April 3, 2019, defendant Ford …

Rule 56(d) Motion for Additional Discovery “Should Be Granted Almost As a Matter of Course” and Be Construed “Generously” Unless Discovery Not Diligently Pursued (Good Quotes) — Factors for Court’s Consideration

Doe v. City of Memphis, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 19225 (6th Cir. June 27, 2019): Jane Doe No. 2 appeals the district court's March 9, 2017 Order granting Defendant City of Memphis summary judgment, and the district court's May 22,…

Inherent Power Sanctions — Extrajudicial Misconduct — Dismissal for Threatening Own Counsel, Mediator, Opposing Claimants and Individual Representative of Opposing Party

Davis v. St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hosp. Ctr., 2019 WL 2754725 (2d Cir July 2, 2019) (unpublished): *1 UPON DUE CONSIDERATION, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that the judgment of the District Court is AFFIRMED. Barry Davis, proceeding pro se…

District Court Not Divested by Appeal of Power to Order Civil Contempt Sanction of $500/day for Failure to Pay Pre-Appeal Sanctions Award — While Pre-Judgment Civil Contempt Not Appealable, Post-Judgment Contempt Order = §1291 Final Decision

CGC Holding Co., LLC v. Hutchens, 2019 WL 2724333 (10th Cir. July 1, 2019) (unpublished): *1 Defendants-Appellants Sandy Hutchens, Tanya Hutchens, and Jennifer Hutchens (collectively “the Hutchens Defendants”), proceeding pro se, appeal from a post-judgment1 order finding them in …

Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

Failure to File Written Objection to Magistrate Judge R&R Waives Review of Dist. Ct’s Judgment Is Not Jurisdictional & May Be Disregarded — Especially When Dist. Ct. Has Disregarded It, Too — Sanctions: Vexatious Litigant Injunction

Social Media Photo Properly Authenticated by Person Who Has Seen Subject of Photo in Same Garb in Person and in Footage That Subject Has Admitted Depicts Him

Rule 11 Sanctions Apt for Frivolous $160 Million Damages Claims (inter alia) — “Sanctions Are Warranted When a Party Exhibits Deliberate Indifference to Obvious Facts” (Good Quote)

Strong Presumption of Public Access to SJ Materials Unaffected by Denial of SJ — Lesser (But Substantial) Presumption re Discovery, In Limine, Non-Dispositive Motions — “Unscrupulous Litigants Can Weaponize Discovery” (Good Quote)

Photos of Texts Functionally Equivalent to Printouts of Emails and Satisfy Best Evidence Rule

Spoliation — Unexplained Failure to Produce Relevant Doc Created after Litigation Reasonably Foreseeable Entitled Adversary to At Least Permissive Adverse Inference — One Factor in Reversal of SJ

R. 30(d)(3), §1927, Inherent Power Sanctions for Deposition Obstruction: “Calls for Speculation,” “Don’t Guess,” “You Can Answer If You Understand,” “Not Qualified to Answer” / Improper Instructions Not to Answer

Rule 56(d) Motion for Additional Discovery “Should Be Granted Almost As a Matter of Course” and Be Construed “Generously” Unless Discovery Not Diligently Pursued (Good Quotes) — Factors for Court’s Consideration

Inherent Power Sanctions — Extrajudicial Misconduct — Dismissal for Threatening Own Counsel, Mediator, Opposing Claimants and Individual Representative of Opposing Party

District Court Not Divested by Appeal of Power to Order Civil Contempt Sanction of $500/day for Failure to Pay Pre-Appeal Sanctions Award — While Pre-Judgment Civil Contempt Not Appealable, Post-Judgment Contempt Order = §1291 Final Decision

Recent Articles

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

Sanctions: (1) Rule 11 Does Not Apply to Litigation Papers Initially Filed in State Court — Only Reaffirmance in Federal Court Post-Removal Is Subject to Sanction — (2) “The Fact That A Legal Theory Is A Long-Shot Does Not Necessarily Mean It Is Sanctionable” (Good Quote)

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