Complex Lit Blog

Judicial Notice of Internet Evidence — Declined as to Blogs, Wikipedia and ZoomInfo Postings Allegedly Posted by Defendant, Offered to Establish Minimum Contacts & Personal Jurisdiction

Calvert v. Wolf, 2016 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 733 (Cal. App. Jan. 29, 2016): Appellants John and Tammy Calvert appeal from an order granting respondent Randall Wolf's motion to quash service of summons for lack of personal jurisdiction.1 The Calverts contend Wolf had the necessary minimum contacts with California to warr ...

Third Anniversary of London Office

On March 4, 2013, Hage Aaronson was formed in London. Today it has more than 40 lawyers, including 8 barristers, four of whom are QCs, two former heads of Chambers, and the leading tax silk in the UK. It is somehow appropriate that it was formed on Vivaldi's birthday. ...

Rule 37 Sanctions — Party Who Did Not Attend Court-Ordered Deposition Barred from Submitting Testimony — No Error in Imposing Sanctions Even Though “the Court Did Not Make It as Easy as Possible for Him to Be Deposed” (Good Quote)

United States v. Cornejo-Reynoso, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 19127 (9th Cir. Nov. 2, 2015): Leonardo Cornejo-Reynoso appeals the district court's judgment in favor of the Government in this civil forfeiture action regarding $2,164,431.00 in United States currency. We affirm. The district court did not err in denying Corne ...

No RICO Causation between Misstatements Concealing Lack of Licensure to Sell Crop Insurance and Subsequent Claims Mishandling (after 7 Years of Competent Claims Handling) — 5th Circuit’s Single-Transaction Rule Noted But Not Applied

Shannon v. Ham, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 2404 (5th Cir. Feb. 11, 2016): In this appeal, the Shannons challenge the district court's dismissal of their civil RICO complaint for failing to state [*2] a claim. The district court ruled that the Shannons' complaint ran afoul of this circuit's "single transaction" rule f ...

Federal Court May Not Impose Sanctions for Misconduct Occurring in Prior State Court Action That Was Dismissed with Prejudice before Federal Action Was Filed

Rivera-Carrasquillo v. Centro Ecuestre Madrigal, Inc., 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 1180 (1st Cir. Jan. 25, 2016): Spending time astride an animal as magnificent, spirited, and powerful as a horse can be risky business. Unfortunately, Ángela Rivera-Carrasquillo experienced this first-hand when she was thrown from a horse in the midst of a gu ...

Once Plaintiff Moves to Dismiss under Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(i), Case Is Effectively Over and Court May Not Attach Conditions — Rule Allows Forum-Shopping — Sanctions Should Not Be a Consequence of Dismissal Nor a Condition Placed on It

Bechuck v. Home Depot USA, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 2633 (5th Cir. Feb. 16, 2016): Stephan Bechuck appeals an order dismissing, without prejudice, Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. ("Home Depot"), and Advantage Sales & Marketing, L.L.C. ("ASM") and requiring that any suits that Bechuck refiles against those parties be brought in ...

RICO: “Where There is a Single Scheme, Single Injury and Few Victims, It Will Be Virtually Impossible to State a RICO Claim” — Parsing Injury Doesn’t Multiply It (Good Quotes)

Eastern Sav. Bank, FSB v. Papageorge, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 17744 (D.C. Cir. Oct. 9, 2015): On July 29, 2013, appellant Eastern Savings Bank, FSB, filed a complaint in the district court raising nine claims arising out of an alleged conspiracy related to the financing of the purchase of a townhouse located in the District of Co ...

Eastern Sav. Bank, FSB v. Papageorge, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 17744 (D.C. Cir. Oct. 9, 2015): On July 29, 2013, appellant Eastern Savings Bank, FSB, filed a complaint in the district court raising nine claims arising out of an alleged …

Is the Time Stamp on a Facebook Post Hearsay or the Non-Hearsay Product of a Scientific Process? — Issue Raised But Not Decided

Ellis v. Commonwealth of VA., 2016 Va. App. LEXIS 18 (Va. Ct. App. Jan. 26, 2016): A Hampton jury convicted Emanuel Dale Ellis of robbery and use of a firearm in the commission of that robbery. Ellis wished to introduce into evidence at trial a photograph from his Facebook page with an accompanying timestamp. The trial judge, ...

Ellis v. Commonwealth of VA., 2016 Va. App. LEXIS 18 (Va. Ct. App. Jan. 26, 2016): A Hampton jury convicted Emanuel Dale Ellis of robbery and use of a firearm in the commission of that robbery. Ellis wished to introduce …

Judicial Notice of Internet Evidence — State Agency (Department of Corrections) Policies as Reflected on Its Website

Dugas v. Wittrup, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3055 (S.D. Ohio Jan. 11, 2016): Plaintiff, formerly incarcerated by the State of Ohio at the Chillicothe Correctional Institution ("CCI"), brings this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Brian Wittrup, Chief of the Bureau of Classification for the Ohio Department of Rehabil ...

§ 1927 Sanctions for Failure for Weeks to Respond to Messages Imploring Out of Court Resolution of Baseless Application Followed by Last-Minute Withdrawal Too Late to Avoid Hearing — Law Firm Vicariously Liable (Circuit Split)

MJS Las Croabas Props., Inc. v. FDIC, 2016 Bankr. LEXIS 498 (B.A.P. 1st Cir. Feb. 17, 2016): Castellanos Group Law Firm, L.L.C. (the "Castellanos Firm") appeals from the following bankruptcy court orders: (1) the March 13, 2015 order imposing sanctions against the firm (the "March 2015 Order");2 and (2) ...

Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

Judicial Notice of Internet Evidence — Declined as to Blogs, Wikipedia and ZoomInfo Postings Allegedly Posted by Defendant, Offered to Establish Minimum Contacts & Personal Jurisdiction

Third Anniversary of London Office

Rule 37 Sanctions — Party Who Did Not Attend Court-Ordered Deposition Barred from Submitting Testimony — No Error in Imposing Sanctions Even Though “the Court Did Not Make It as Easy as Possible for Him to Be Deposed” (Good Quote)

No RICO Causation between Misstatements Concealing Lack of Licensure to Sell Crop Insurance and Subsequent Claims Mishandling (after 7 Years of Competent Claims Handling) — 5th Circuit’s Single-Transaction Rule Noted But Not Applied

Federal Court May Not Impose Sanctions for Misconduct Occurring in Prior State Court Action That Was Dismissed with Prejudice before Federal Action Was Filed

Once Plaintiff Moves to Dismiss under Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(i), Case Is Effectively Over and Court May Not Attach Conditions — Rule Allows Forum-Shopping — Sanctions Should Not Be a Consequence of Dismissal Nor a Condition Placed on It

RICO: “Where There is a Single Scheme, Single Injury and Few Victims, It Will Be Virtually Impossible to State a RICO Claim” — Parsing Injury Doesn’t Multiply It (Good Quotes)

Is the Time Stamp on a Facebook Post Hearsay or the Non-Hearsay Product of a Scientific Process? — Issue Raised But Not Decided

Judicial Notice of Internet Evidence — State Agency (Department of Corrections) Policies as Reflected on Its Website

§ 1927 Sanctions for Failure for Weeks to Respond to Messages Imploring Out of Court Resolution of Baseless Application Followed by Last-Minute Withdrawal Too Late to Avoid Hearing — Law Firm Vicariously Liable (Circuit Split)

Recent Posts

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)

Supreme Court: Relief under Rule 60(b)(6) Requires Extraordinary Circumstances Even If It Is Invoked to Allow Amendment of The Complaint–Rule 15’s Liberal Approach to Amendment Does Not Change That (Reversing Second Circuit)

FRAP 38 Sanctions — Eleventh Circuit Generally Does Not Impose FRAP 38 Sanctions on Pro Se Litigants, But May Do So If They Have Persisted Despite Judicial Warnings of Frivolousness

Inherent Power Sanctions: No Dismissal with Prejudice If Lesser Sanctions Will Suffice — The Liberal Pleading Standard of Swierkiewicz “Is Still Good Law”

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