Joseph Hage Aaronson

RICO: Municipalities/Tribes Not Exempt from Prospective Injunctive (& Other?) Relief on Mens Rea Grounds — Arbitration: Tribal Pay Day Loan Arb. Clauses Unconscionable

Gingras v. Think Fin., Inc., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 12104 (2d Cir. April 24, 2017): The federal government and many states have laws designed to protect consumers against predatory lending practices. In this case, we must determine what happens …

Arbitration/New York Convention: Panel Is Comparatively More Expert about Meaning of Its Own Rules, Better Able to Interpret & Apply Them, & Doesn’t Exceed Power by Reasonably Construing Them

Inversiones y Procesadora Tropical INPROTSA, S.A. v. Del Monte Int'l Gmbh, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 11782 (11th Cir. April 23, 2019): Appellant Inversiones y Procesadora Tropical INPROTSA, S.A. (INPROTSA) appeals from the district court's orders denying its petition to…

Supreme Court: Ambiguous Contract, Like Silent One, Insufficient to Support Class Arbitration — Contra Proferentem Is Public Policy Rule, Not Helpful in Determining Parties’ Intent Nor Basis for Imposing Classwide Arbitration

Lamps Plus v. Varelam 2019 U.S. LEXIS 2943 (U.S. April 24, 2019): The Federal Arbitration Act requires courts to enforce covered arbitration agreements according to their terms. See 9 U. S. C. §2. In Stolt-Nielsen S. A. v. …

RICO: Causation May Be Proved Circumstantially — Duty to Prove Absence of Any Plausible Motive under Matsushita Is Limited to Antitrusr (Dissent on This) — Use of Related Crimes Not Barred by 404(b)

Waste Mgmt. of Louisiana, L.L.C. v. River Birch, Inc., 2019 WL 1550248 (5th Cir. April 10, 2019): *1 This appeal challenges the district court’s order granting partial summary judgment in favor of Defendants River Birch, Inc., Albert Ward, Frederick …

Sanctions Unwarranted Where Names of Undisclosed Witness Disclosed in Discovery (Rules 37(c)(1), 26(e)(1)(A)) — No Spoliation (Video) Absent Reasonably Foreseeable Threat of Litigation

Cottrell v. Nicholson Props. LLC, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 10922 (3d Cir. April 11, 2019): Maryann Cottrell and Richard Holland, now proceeding pro se, appeal the District Court's summary judgment in favor of Nicholson Properties, George Nicholson, Sr., and…

Appeals: If Appellant Seeks to Reinstate Bkcy. Ct. Opinion, Opin. Is Effectively Its Opening Brief, So It Need Not Restate Args in Opin.— Otherwise, It Can’t Raise Args. Not Raised in D.Ct. or BAP — No Inherent Power to Override Stat. — Estoppel OK

In re Reyes-Colon (Popular Auto, Inc. v. Reyes-Colon), 2019 WL 1785039 (1st Cir. April 24, 2019): *1 Edgar Reyes-Colon (“Reyes-Colon”), a licensed plastic surgeon specializing in facial cosmetic surgery, allegedly failed to repay certain debts. In November 2006, one of…

Arbitration: District Courts Have Little Discretion to Refuse Enforcement of Awards under New York Convention, Limited to Article V Grounds (Good Quotes) — Court Defers to Arbitration Organization’s Interpretation of Own Rules

Stati v. Republic of Kaz., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 11561 (D.C. Cir. April 19, 2019) (unpublished): This appeal was considered on the record from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, and on the briefs and…

Disqualification — Advocate-Witness Rule (Rule 3.7) Bars Pretrial Work, Too — Doubts Resolved in Favor of Testimony, Not Advocacy — Hardship within Rule Must Be Unforeseeable

Wyndham Vacation Ownership v. Vacation Transfers Unlimited, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 67189 (M.D. Tenn. April 19, 2019): Pending before the Court is Plaintiffs' motion to disqualify Aubrey Givens and Kristin Fecteau Mosher (Docket Entry No. 24). For the reasons…

Snapchat: Authentication v. Rule of Completeness: If Not Misleading or Relevant, No Need to Offer All Messages to Authenticate Some — Recipient’s Testimony Sender Was “Friend” Who Gave Her His Username + Content — Photos of Text Fair, Accurate

State v. Mrza, 302 Neb. 931 (2019): I. INTRODUCTION [*934] Sami S. Mrza appeals his jury conviction and sentencing for first degree sexual assault. Although he assigns multiple errors, we focus on two issues: the authentication requirement for "Snapchat" …

R. 11 & Inherent Power Sanctions: Relitigating Issues without Offering New Facts Unnec’y to Preserve Review, Is Sanctionable — But Not Raising Issue Undecided by S. Ct. or Courts in Cir., Or Identifying Adverse Case & Seeking Different Result

Carmax Auto Superstores v. Sibley, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 11504 (4th Cir. April 19, 2019) (unpublished): PER CURIAM: Montgomery B. Sibley appeals the district court's orders granting CarMax Auto Superstores, Inc.'s ("CarMax") petition to confirm an arbitration award, denying…

Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

RICO: Municipalities/Tribes Not Exempt from Prospective Injunctive (& Other?) Relief on Mens Rea Grounds — Arbitration: Tribal Pay Day Loan Arb. Clauses Unconscionable

Arbitration/New York Convention: Panel Is Comparatively More Expert about Meaning of Its Own Rules, Better Able to Interpret & Apply Them, & Doesn’t Exceed Power by Reasonably Construing Them

Supreme Court: Ambiguous Contract, Like Silent One, Insufficient to Support Class Arbitration — Contra Proferentem Is Public Policy Rule, Not Helpful in Determining Parties’ Intent Nor Basis for Imposing Classwide Arbitration

RICO: Causation May Be Proved Circumstantially — Duty to Prove Absence of Any Plausible Motive under Matsushita Is Limited to Antitrusr (Dissent on This) — Use of Related Crimes Not Barred by 404(b)

Sanctions Unwarranted Where Names of Undisclosed Witness Disclosed in Discovery (Rules 37(c)(1), 26(e)(1)(A)) — No Spoliation (Video) Absent Reasonably Foreseeable Threat of Litigation

Appeals: If Appellant Seeks to Reinstate Bkcy. Ct. Opinion, Opin. Is Effectively Its Opening Brief, So It Need Not Restate Args in Opin.— Otherwise, It Can’t Raise Args. Not Raised in D.Ct. or BAP — No Inherent Power to Override Stat. — Estoppel OK

Arbitration: District Courts Have Little Discretion to Refuse Enforcement of Awards under New York Convention, Limited to Article V Grounds (Good Quotes) — Court Defers to Arbitration Organization’s Interpretation of Own Rules

Disqualification — Advocate-Witness Rule (Rule 3.7) Bars Pretrial Work, Too — Doubts Resolved in Favor of Testimony, Not Advocacy — Hardship within Rule Must Be Unforeseeable

Snapchat: Authentication v. Rule of Completeness: If Not Misleading or Relevant, No Need to Offer All Messages to Authenticate Some — Recipient’s Testimony Sender Was “Friend” Who Gave Her His Username + Content — Photos of Text Fair, Accurate

R. 11 & Inherent Power Sanctions: Relitigating Issues without Offering New Facts Unnec’y to Preserve Review, Is Sanctionable — But Not Raising Issue Undecided by S. Ct. or Courts in Cir., Or Identifying Adverse Case & Seeking Different Result

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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