Complex Lit Blog

Spoliation — Second Circuit Reaffirms Negligence Standard for Adverse Inference Instruction — Physical Evidence (Same Post 37(e)?) — Same Standard in Criminal as Civil Case — Government Department’s Policy No Excuse for Spoliation

United States v. Garcia, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 392 (2d Cir. Jan. 7, 2015): ON CONSIDERATION WHEREOF, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that the judgment of said District Court be and it hereby is AFFIRMED and that the defendant-appellant's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel is

United States v. Garcia, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 392 (2d Cir. Jan. 7, 2015): ON CONSIDERATION WHEREOF, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that the judgment of said District Court be and it hereby is AFFIRMED and that the…

Discovery — Fact That Documents Are Publicly Available Is No Defense to Production of Documents Possessed, But There Is No Duty to Obtain Unpossessed, Publicly Available Documents for Production (What About Work Product?)

Todd v. Tempur-Sealy Int’l, Inc., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 161037 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 17, 2014): I. BACKGROUND Plaintiffs' initial Complaint, filed on October 25, 2013, and operative Second Amended Complaint, filed on August 29, 2014, allege misrepresentations and omissions by Defendants Tempur-Sealy Int ...

Todd v. Tempur-Sealy Int’l, Inc., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 161037 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 17, 2014): I. BACKGROUND Plaintiffs' initial Complaint, filed on October 25, 2013, and operative Second Amended Complaint, filed on August 29, 2014, allege misrepresentations and omissions by …

Rule 11 and Removal — No Abuse of Discretion to Deny Sanctions for Clear Rule 11 Violation — Rooker-Feldman Inapplicable to Removed Claims — § 1447(c) Sanctions Shouldn’t Be Imposed to Discourage All But Air-Tight Cases for Removal

Lundahl v. Home Depot, Inc., 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 22993 (10th Cir. Dec. 3, 2014): Plaintiff Holli Lundahl, proceeding pro se,1 appeals from the district court's order denying her motion for sanctions under Fed. R. Civ. P. 11 against defendants Home Depot, Inc., and Citibank N.A based on her assertion they wrongfully rem ...

RICO — The Act of Filing Even a Frivolous Lawsuit Does Not, by Itself, Constitute an Act of Extortion within the Hobbs Act — Noerr Pennington Applied to Litigation: Two-Part Test

Content Extraction & Transmission LLC v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 24258 (Fed. Cir. Dec. 23, 2014): We turn next to Diebold's appeal from the district court's dismissal of its tortious interference and RICO violation claims against CET. Diebold's claims all arise from the following pred ...

Content Extraction & Transmission LLC v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 24258 (Fed. Cir. Dec. 23, 2014): We turn next to Diebold's appeal from the district court's dismissal of its tortious interference and RICO violation claims against …

Sanctions — Court May Dismiss for Deliberate Violation of Rule 37 without Considering Lesser Sanctions (Unlike Inherent Power) — Not Every Willful Violation of Court Order Justifies Dismissal — 8th Circuit’s 3-Part Test — What Is Prejudice

Comstock v. UPS Ground Freight, Inc., 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 24554 (8th Cir. Dec. 30, 2014): Responding to serious misconduct during discovery, the district court1 sanctioned Dolores Comstock by dismissing her lawsuit. Comstock appeals this dismissal, and we affirm. 1 The Honorable Susan ...

Experts — Reliance on Business Plan without Inquiry into Qualifications of Preparers or Underlying Assumptions Renders Opinion Unreliable — Expert’s Alternate Opinion Should’ve Been Allowed: Exclusion of Critical Evidence Is Extreme Sanction

ZF Meritor, LLC v. Eaton Corp., 696 F.3d 254 (3d Cir. 2012): 2. Expert Testimony on Damages In their cross-appeal, Plaintiffs argue that the District Court erred in excluding DeRamus's testimony on the issue of damages. The core of DeRamus's damages analysis was one page (titled " ...

ZF Meritor, LLC v. Eaton Corp., 696 F.3d 254 (3d Cir. 2012): 2. Expert Testimony on Damages In their cross-appeal, Plaintiffs argue that the District Court erred in excluding DeRamus's testimony on the issue of damages. The core of DeRamus's …

Internet Evidence — Circumstantial Authentication That Defendants Made Yelp Postings: Failure to Deny Authorship and Repetition of Substantially the Same Alleged Grievances in Court Filings Suffices

Pham v. Lee, 2014 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 8812 (Cal. Ct. App. Dec. 11, 2014): Plaintiff Randal Pham, an ophthalmologist, filed a defamation action against defendants Jenny Lee and Alvin Lee (the Lees) for statements they made on the Internet accusing Dr. Pham of fraud, among other things. The Lees moved to strike Dr. P ...

Pham v. Lee, 2014 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 8812 (Cal. Ct. App. Dec. 11, 2014): Plaintiff Randal Pham, an ophthalmologist, filed a defamation action against defendants Jenny Lee and Alvin Lee (the Lees) for statements they made on the Internet …

§ 1782 Allows Foreign Criminal Complainant to Obtain Documentary Discovery in the United States for Foreign Criminal Investigation Involved an Investigating Magistrate

In re Application for an Order Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1782 to Conduct Discovery for Use in Foreign Proceedings, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 23492 (2d Cir. Dec. 12, 2014): The question presented is one of first impression2 in this Court--whether 28 U.S.C. § 1782, which ...

Supreme Court — Removal — § 1446(a) Requires Only Plausible Allegation of Amount in Controversy — Evidence Required Only If Plaintiff Contests, or Court Questions, Defendant’s Allegation — No Presumption against Removal in CAFA Cases

Dart Cherokee Basin Operating Company, LLC v. Owens, 2014 U.S. LEXIS 8435 (U.S. Dec. 15, 2014): To remove a case from a state court to a federal court, a defendant must file in the federal forum a notice of removal "containing a short and plain statement of the grounds for removal." 28 U. S. C. §1446(a). When remov ...

Sanctions Wrongly Based in Part on Speculation (X May Have Submitted False Filings) — Defendant Not Tarred with Co-Defendant’s Misconduct — Ninth Circuit Default Standards — Discretion Narrows as Severity of Sanction Increases (Good Quote)

Loops, LLC v. Phoenix Trading, Inc., 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 21602 (Fed. Cir. Nov. 13, 2014): The issue before us on appeal is whether the district court abused its discretion in granting sanctions of default judgment, attorney's fees, and costs to plaintiffs. The attorney's fees and costs were imposed jointly on defendan ...

Loops, LLC v. Phoenix Trading, Inc., 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 21602 (Fed. Cir. Nov. 13, 2014): The issue before us on appeal is whether the district court abused its discretion in granting sanctions of default judgment, attorney's fees, and costs …

Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

Spoliation — Second Circuit Reaffirms Negligence Standard for Adverse Inference Instruction — Physical Evidence (Same Post 37(e)?) — Same Standard in Criminal as Civil Case — Government Department’s Policy No Excuse for Spoliation

Discovery — Fact That Documents Are Publicly Available Is No Defense to Production of Documents Possessed, But There Is No Duty to Obtain Unpossessed, Publicly Available Documents for Production (What About Work Product?)

Rule 11 and Removal — No Abuse of Discretion to Deny Sanctions for Clear Rule 11 Violation — Rooker-Feldman Inapplicable to Removed Claims — § 1447(c) Sanctions Shouldn’t Be Imposed to Discourage All But Air-Tight Cases for Removal

RICO — The Act of Filing Even a Frivolous Lawsuit Does Not, by Itself, Constitute an Act of Extortion within the Hobbs Act — Noerr Pennington Applied to Litigation: Two-Part Test

Sanctions — Court May Dismiss for Deliberate Violation of Rule 37 without Considering Lesser Sanctions (Unlike Inherent Power) — Not Every Willful Violation of Court Order Justifies Dismissal — 8th Circuit’s 3-Part Test — What Is Prejudice

Experts — Reliance on Business Plan without Inquiry into Qualifications of Preparers or Underlying Assumptions Renders Opinion Unreliable — Expert’s Alternate Opinion Should’ve Been Allowed: Exclusion of Critical Evidence Is Extreme Sanction

Internet Evidence — Circumstantial Authentication That Defendants Made Yelp Postings: Failure to Deny Authorship and Repetition of Substantially the Same Alleged Grievances in Court Filings Suffices

§ 1782 Allows Foreign Criminal Complainant to Obtain Documentary Discovery in the United States for Foreign Criminal Investigation Involved an Investigating Magistrate

Supreme Court — Removal — § 1446(a) Requires Only Plausible Allegation of Amount in Controversy — Evidence Required Only If Plaintiff Contests, or Court Questions, Defendant’s Allegation — No Presumption against Removal in CAFA Cases

Sanctions Wrongly Based in Part on Speculation (X May Have Submitted False Filings) — Defendant Not Tarred with Co-Defendant’s Misconduct — Ninth Circuit Default Standards — Discretion Narrows as Severity of Sanction Increases (Good Quote)

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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