Complex Lit Blog

Party Can’t Name Judge as Witness, Cite to His or Her Rulings in Party’s Prior Cases to Force Recusal — Rulings Almost Never Support §455 Recusal — Parties Can’t Create Basis to Recuse by Their Own Acts (Good Quotes)

Partain v. City of S. Padre Island, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 36309 (5th Cir. Dec. 6, 2019) (unpublished): PER CURIAM:* Johnny Ray Partain sued Den ...

Partain v. City of S. Padre Island, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 36309 (5th Cir. Dec. 6, 2019) (unpublished): PER CURIAM:* Johnny Ray Partain sued Dennis Stahl, Anna Stahl, Victor Carranza, and the City of South Padre Island, bringing 42 …

Appeals: Exercising Jurisdiction over Orders Not Specified in Notice of Appeal (Factors) — Notice Construed Liberally — Error to Dismiss As Sanction in Third Circuit without Considering Poulis Factors

Hammond v. Lancaster City Bur. of Police, 2020 WL 91265 (3d Cir. Jan. 2, 2020) (unpublished): PER CURIAM *1 Khalil Hammond appeals from a number of orders of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. We will vacate the District Court’s judgment and remand for further proceedin ...

Supreme Court: Bankruptcy Court’s Grant or Denial of Request for Relief from Automatic Stay = Final Order, Must Be Appealed within 14 Days — Appealability Likened to Dismissal on Personal Jurisdiction, Improper Venue & Forum Non Conveniens Grounds

Ritzen Grp., Inc. v. Jackson Masonry, LLC, 2020 U.S. LEXIS 526, 2020 WL 20102 (S.Ct. Jan. 14, 2020): Under the Bankruptcy Code, filing a petition for bankruptcy automatically ...

Ritzen Grp., Inc. v. Jackson Masonry, LLC, 2020 U.S. LEXIS 526, 2020 WL 20102 (S.Ct. Jan. 14, 2020): Under the Bankruptcy Code, filing a petition for bankruptcy automatically “operates as a stay” of creditors’ debt-collection efforts outside the umbrella…

Theory Abandoned at Summary Judgment Cannot Be Revisited on Appeal — Sanctions: If Rule 37(c)(1) Exclusion Is Tantamount to Dismissal, Court Must Find Willfulness, Fault Or Bad Faith (9th Cir.)

Silvia v. MCI Communs. Servs., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 36426 (9th Cir. Dec. 9, 2019) (unpublished): MEMORANDUM* Debbie Silvia appeals from the d ...

Silvia v. MCI Communs. Servs., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 36426 (9th Cir. Dec. 9, 2019) (unpublished): MEMORANDUM* Debbie Silvia appeals from the district court's summary judgment in favor of MCI Communications Services, Inc., Verizon Business Network Services, Inc., and…

Appeals Court Has Inherent Power to Dismiss Appeal As Frivolous When It Presents No Arguably Meritorious Issue

Spain v. Gelb & Black PC, 2019 WL 6598307 (2d Cir. Aug. 7, 2019):*1 Appellant, pro se, moves to compel discovery, stay the briefing deadline, sanction the Appellee, and strike all of the Appellee’s filings. Upon due consideration, it is hereby ORDERED that the motions are DENIED and the appeal is DISMISSED because it “lacks an arguab ...

Social Media Photo Subject to Traditional Authentication [901] — Once Photo Admissible to Show Gang Membership, Caption Corroborating That Not Offered for Truth But for Fact Statement Was Made, Thus Not Hearsay

People v. Thomas, 2019 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 8244 (Cal. Ct. App. Dec. 11, 2019) (unpublished): Defendant Byran Antoine Thomas attended a birthday party on March 21, 2014. He shot and killed one of the othe ...

Disqualification — Where Lawyer in Firm A Is Adverse to Firm B, Solicits & Obtains Offer from Firm B Which Is Immediately Withdrawn Because Conflict Exposed, Lawyer Was Never “Associated” With Firm B, Firm B Not Disqualified

Hinker v. County of Cape May, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6517 (D.N.J. Jan. 13, 2020): This matter having come before the Court upon the Motion [Docket Number 15] by Plaintiffs, Jonathan and Jacqueline Hi ...

Hinker v. County of Cape May, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6517 (D.N.J. Jan. 13, 2020): This matter having come before the Court upon the Motion [Docket Number 15] by Plaintiffs, Jonathan and Jacqueline Hinker, for an Order disqualifying the law …

Sanctions: Due Process (DP): Notice Against Firm ≠ Notice Against Lawyers — 1st Mention in Reply Brief Denies Ability to Respond — DP Reviewed De Novo — Can Firm Be Sanctioned under 26(g)(3) or 37(b)(2)(C)?

KCI USA, Inc. v. Healthcare Essentials, Inc., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 1616 (6th Cir. Jan. 16, 2020) (unpublished): One thing is certain: discovery abuses by the defendants infected this case—seemingl ...

KCI USA, Inc. v. Healthcare Essentials, Inc., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 1616 (6th Cir. Jan. 16, 2020) (unpublished): One thing is certain: discovery abuses by the defendants infected this case—seemingly beyond repair, leading to a default judgment against the defendants …

RICO: Possibility That Third-Party Payor Was Derivatively Harmed by Statements Pharma Co. Made to Doctors or Patients Doesn’t Support RICO Liability — MDL Court’s Dismissal Order in Unconsolidated Case Is Immediately Appearlable

Med. Mut. of Ohio v. AbbVie Inc., 2019 WL 5887194 (7th Cir. Nov. 12, 2019) (unpublished): *1 Medical Mutual of Ohio contends in this suit under the civil-liability section of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (

Med. Mut. of Ohio v. AbbVie Inc., 2019 WL 5887194 (7th Cir. Nov. 12, 2019) (unpublished): *1 Medical Mutual of Ohio contends in this suit under the civil-liability section of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO…

When Bankruptcy Courts May Decline to Enforce Arbitration Clauses: 2 Requirements — Under Rule of Orderliness, One Panel Can’t Overrule Another Absent Unequivocal Decision of Supreme Court or Circuit En Banc

In re Henry, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 37127 (5th Cir. Dec. 16, 2019): PER CURIAM: The opinion previously filed in this case is withdrawn and the following is substituted. ...

In re Henry, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 37127 (5th Cir. Dec. 16, 2019): PER CURIAM: The opinion previously filed in this case is withdrawn and the following is substituted. Years after Stephanie Marie Henry took out a student loan, she …

Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

Party Can’t Name Judge as Witness, Cite to His or Her Rulings in Party’s Prior Cases to Force Recusal — Rulings Almost Never Support §455 Recusal — Parties Can’t Create Basis to Recuse by Their Own Acts (Good Quotes)

Appeals: Exercising Jurisdiction over Orders Not Specified in Notice of Appeal (Factors) — Notice Construed Liberally — Error to Dismiss As Sanction in Third Circuit without Considering Poulis Factors

Supreme Court: Bankruptcy Court’s Grant or Denial of Request for Relief from Automatic Stay = Final Order, Must Be Appealed within 14 Days — Appealability Likened to Dismissal on Personal Jurisdiction, Improper Venue & Forum Non Conveniens Grounds

Theory Abandoned at Summary Judgment Cannot Be Revisited on Appeal — Sanctions: If Rule 37(c)(1) Exclusion Is Tantamount to Dismissal, Court Must Find Willfulness, Fault Or Bad Faith (9th Cir.)

Appeals Court Has Inherent Power to Dismiss Appeal As Frivolous When It Presents No Arguably Meritorious Issue

Social Media Photo Subject to Traditional Authentication [901] — Once Photo Admissible to Show Gang Membership, Caption Corroborating That Not Offered for Truth But for Fact Statement Was Made, Thus Not Hearsay

Disqualification — Where Lawyer in Firm A Is Adverse to Firm B, Solicits & Obtains Offer from Firm B Which Is Immediately Withdrawn Because Conflict Exposed, Lawyer Was Never “Associated” With Firm B, Firm B Not Disqualified

Sanctions: Due Process (DP): Notice Against Firm ≠ Notice Against Lawyers — 1st Mention in Reply Brief Denies Ability to Respond — DP Reviewed De Novo — Can Firm Be Sanctioned under 26(g)(3) or 37(b)(2)(C)?

RICO: Possibility That Third-Party Payor Was Derivatively Harmed by Statements Pharma Co. Made to Doctors or Patients Doesn’t Support RICO Liability — MDL Court’s Dismissal Order in Unconsolidated Case Is Immediately Appearlable

When Bankruptcy Courts May Decline to Enforce Arbitration Clauses: 2 Requirements — Under Rule of Orderliness, One Panel Can’t Overrule Another Absent Unequivocal Decision of Supreme Court or Circuit En Banc

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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