Complex Lit Blog

Cumulative Racist Text Messages Excluded under Rule 403 in Employment Discrimination Trial — Attempted Spoliation of Texts Excluded as Irrelevant Where Contents “Repeated for the Jury Ad Nauseam”

Phoenix v. Coatesville Area Sch. Dist., 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 4871 (3d Cir. Mar. 20, 2017): * This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not constitute binding precedent. In an employment discrimination action alleging constructive discharge on the basis of race, Jahmal Phoen ...

Rule 11, §1927 and Inherent Power Sanctions — Standards — Vexatious Litigant Injunctions Typically Used for Egregious Abuse of the Judicial Process — Mere Lack of Merit Insufficient for Imposition of Sanctions (Good Quotes)

Sorenson v. Wolfson, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 4591 (2d Cir. Mar. 16, 2017): SUMMARY ORDER UPON DUE CONSIDERATION, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that the order of the district court is AFFIRMED. Appellant Stanley Wolfson appeals from the district court ...

Sorenson v. Wolfson, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 4591 (2d Cir. Mar. 16, 2017): SUMMARY ORDER UPON DUE CONSIDERATION, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that the order of the district court is AFFIRMED. Appellant Stanley Wolfson appeals from…

RICO/McCarran Ferguson: Claims Attacking Financial Condition, Accounting of Insurer Impair Regulation of Insurance, Requiring Second Guessing of Regulatory Judgments — Twiqbal: Unsophistication of Plaintiff Doesn’t Render Complex Claims Implausible

Ludwick v. Harbinger Grp., Inc., 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 6391 (8th Cir. April 13, 2017): The question in this case is whether letting Dale Ludwick pursue her federal racketeering claims against an insurance company and its affiliates would impair state regulation of the insurance business in Iowa, Maryland, or Missouri. We agree ...

Ludwick v. Harbinger Grp., Inc., 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 6391 (8th Cir. April 13, 2017): The question in this case is whether letting Dale Ludwick pursue her federal racketeering claims against an insurance company and its affiliates would impair state …

May a Court Grant a 12(b)(6) Motion to Dismiss Solely on the Ground That the Plaintiff Failed to Respond to the Motion? (Circuit Split)

Block v. Dakota Nation Gaming Comm'n & Dakota Sioux Casino & Hotel, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 67325 (D. S.D. May 3, 2017): Plaintiff Dawn Block filed a complaint with this Court on December 1, 2016, claiming: (1) breach of confidentiality; (2) Privacy Act of 1974; and (3) defamation. The defendants have moved to dismiss all counts pur ...

Homicide as Spoliation: Spoliation by Shooting, Allowing Decedent in Death Action to Die — Rules of Interpretation of US/Native American Treaties — Issue Preclusion: Honoring Statements of First Court as to What It Was Deciding

Jones v. United States, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 1479 (Fed. Cir. Jan. 27, 2017): Debra Jones, Arden C. Post, and the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservations (collectively, "Jones"), appeal the judgment of the United States Court of Federal Claims ("CFC") dismissing (1) Jones's claims for damages again ...

Text Authentication — Admission of Ownership of Cell Phones Suffices to Authenticate Content Extracted via Data Dump and Tie It Owner (Note That Some of the Texts Self-Identified the Author As Sender) [Email]

Hoey v. State, 2017 Ark. App. LEXIS 267 (Ark. Ct. App. April 27, 2017): Robert Maurice Hoey was convicted in the Miller County Circuit Court of possession of more than twenty-five pounds of marijuana with intent to deliver, and he was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment in the Arkansas Department of Correction. On appeal, Hoe ...

Voicemail Admissibility: Voicemails Left for Victim by Murder Defendant on Date of Shooting Admissible for Their Truth under State of Mind Exception to Hearsay Rule

White v. State, 2017 Nev. Unpub. LEXIS 301 (Nev. Sup. Ct. April 26, 2017): This is an appeal from a judgment of conviction, pursuant to a jury verdict, of second-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon, attempted murder with the use of a deadly weapon, carrying a concealed firearm or other deadly weapon, and five counts of child ...

Sanctions: Policy with Exclusion for Sanctions Not Triggered by Contempt Motion for Fees Because It Seeks Compensation as a Punishment — Would Coverage Exist If Motion Sought Fees from Insured (Firm) Indirectly Due to Conduct of Its Lawyers?

Jones, Foster, Johnston & Stubbs, PA v. Prosight-Synicate 1110 at Lloyd's, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 2550 (11th Cir. Feb. 14, 2017): This appeal concerns whether professional liability insurer ProSight-Syndicate 1110 at Lloyd's ("ProSight") was contractually obligated to defend several attorneys employed by its in ...

Jones, Foster, Johnston & Stubbs, PA v. Prosight-Synicate 1110 at Lloyd's, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 2550 (11th Cir. Feb. 14, 2017): This appeal concerns whether professional liability insurer ProSight-Syndicate 1110 at Lloyd's ("ProSight") was contractually obligated to defend several attorneys …

Inherent Power Sanctions for Knowingly Bringing a Time-Barred Suit — Bad Faith for an Attorney to Raise a Frivolous Argument Knowingly or Recklessly (9th Circuit)

Goldmanis v. Insinger, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 4098 (9th Cir. Mar. 8, 2017): * This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. Plaintiff Linda Insinger appeals the district court's grant of summary judgment to Defendants and ...

Rule 11 & § 1927 Sanctions: Court Abuses Discretion When No Reasonable Person Would Agree with It (7th Cir.)—Failure to Disclose Named Plaintiff Is Member of Firm Representing Her Borderline But Failure to Sanction ≠ Abuse of Discretion

Blow v. Bijora, Inc., 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 7926 (7th Cir. May 4, 2017): In May 2011, Nicole Strickler brought this class-action lawsuit against Chicago-based retailer Bijora, Inc., doing business as Akira.1 Strickler was later replaced as named plaintiff by Nicole Blow, who alleged that Akira's practice of sendi ...

Blow v. Bijora, Inc., 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 7926 (7th Cir. May 4, 2017): In May 2011, Nicole Strickler brought this class-action lawsuit against Chicago-based retailer Bijora, Inc., doing business as Akira.1 Strickler was later replaced as named plaintiff by …

Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

Cumulative Racist Text Messages Excluded under Rule 403 in Employment Discrimination Trial — Attempted Spoliation of Texts Excluded as Irrelevant Where Contents “Repeated for the Jury Ad Nauseam”

Rule 11, §1927 and Inherent Power Sanctions — Standards — Vexatious Litigant Injunctions Typically Used for Egregious Abuse of the Judicial Process — Mere Lack of Merit Insufficient for Imposition of Sanctions (Good Quotes)

RICO/McCarran Ferguson: Claims Attacking Financial Condition, Accounting of Insurer Impair Regulation of Insurance, Requiring Second Guessing of Regulatory Judgments — Twiqbal: Unsophistication of Plaintiff Doesn’t Render Complex Claims Implausible

May a Court Grant a 12(b)(6) Motion to Dismiss Solely on the Ground That the Plaintiff Failed to Respond to the Motion? (Circuit Split)

Homicide as Spoliation: Spoliation by Shooting, Allowing Decedent in Death Action to Die — Rules of Interpretation of US/Native American Treaties — Issue Preclusion: Honoring Statements of First Court as to What It Was Deciding

Text Authentication — Admission of Ownership of Cell Phones Suffices to Authenticate Content Extracted via Data Dump and Tie It Owner (Note That Some of the Texts Self-Identified the Author As Sender) [Email]

Voicemail Admissibility: Voicemails Left for Victim by Murder Defendant on Date of Shooting Admissible for Their Truth under State of Mind Exception to Hearsay Rule

Sanctions: Policy with Exclusion for Sanctions Not Triggered by Contempt Motion for Fees Because It Seeks Compensation as a Punishment — Would Coverage Exist If Motion Sought Fees from Insured (Firm) Indirectly Due to Conduct of Its Lawyers?

Inherent Power Sanctions for Knowingly Bringing a Time-Barred Suit — Bad Faith for an Attorney to Raise a Frivolous Argument Knowingly or Recklessly (9th Circuit)

Rule 11 & § 1927 Sanctions: Court Abuses Discretion When No Reasonable Person Would Agree with It (7th Cir.)—Failure to Disclose Named Plaintiff Is Member of Firm Representing Her Borderline But Failure to Sanction ≠ Abuse of Discretion

Recent Posts

RICO: Indirect Injury Unrecoverable — Indirect Purchaser Rule Imported from Antitrust

RICO: No Causation Where Harm Flowed Several Steps After the Fraudulent Acts — RICO Causation Same As Antitrust Causation

Sanctions vs. Automatic Stay: Imposition of Sanctions (Here, Inherent Power Sanctions) Is Subject to the Police Power Exception to the Automatic Stay in Bankruptcy

The Word “Include” May Be A Word of Limitation As Opposed to a Word of Enlargement, Depending on the Context

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)

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