Complex Lit Blog

Rule 11 Safe Harbor — It Is the Burden of the Party against Whom Sanctions Are Sought to Prove Non-Compliance with Safe Harbor, Not the Burden of Movant to Prove Compliance

Darnell v. Arthur, 2019 WL 3451649 (6th Cir. July 31, 2019) (unpublished): Plaintiff appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in defendants’ favor on her tortious-interference-with-business-relations and civil-conspiracy claims. Defendants cross appeal the district court’s refusal to impose Rule 11 sanctions. Addit ...

Sanctions — Gov’t Counsel’s Secretly Reading Inmates’ Communications with Counsel, Even after Bar Ethics Counsel Advised Stopping and Alerting Court, Violates Inherent Power and §1927 — “When in Doubt, Ask the Court” (Good Quote)

Gomez v. Vernon, 255 F.3d 1118 (9th Cir. 2001) (Note: The 1992 adn 1994ABA opinions cited in this decision have since been replaced by Model Rule 4.4(b), which is reprinted after the citations an ...

Gomez v. Vernon, 255 F.3d 1118 (9th Cir. 2001) (Note: The 1992 adn 1994ABA opinions cited in this decision have since been replaced by Model Rule 4.4(b), which is reprinted after the citations and quotations of the 1992 and…

Sanctions: Expert Exclusion for Inadequate 26(a)(2)(A) Disclosures “So Generic, Unhelpful & Boilerplate They Could Apply to Virtually Any Case” (Good Quote)

Torrez v. D. Las Vegas, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 21524 (9th Cir. July 19, 2019) (unpublished): MEMORANDUM* Gregory John Torrez appeals the distric ...

Torrez v. D. Las Vegas, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 21524 (9th Cir. July 19, 2019) (unpublished): MEMORANDUM* Gregory John Torrez appeals the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of D. Las Vegas, Inc. and Edgar Vinicio Vallejo…

Sanctions: Expert Exclusion — Scheduling Order Violation — When Only One Report Timely Submitted: “A Party Who … Put[s] All … Eggs in One Basket [Cannot] Complain When The Basket Proves Inadequate” (Good Quote)

González-Rivera v. Centro Médico Del Turabo, Inc., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 21449 (1st Cir. July 19, 2019): Scheduling orders are essential tools for modern-day case management, and litigants flout such ...

González-Rivera v. Centro Médico Del Turabo, Inc., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 21449 (1st Cir. July 19, 2019): Scheduling orders are essential tools for modern-day case management, and litigants flout such orders at their peril. This case, in which plaintiff-appellant Aglaed…

FRAP 38 Sanctions Appropriate for Appeal “Brought without the Slightest Chance of Success” and Which “Thus Should Not Have Been Brought at All” (Good Quote)

Beter v. Murdoch, 2019 WL 2537524 (2d Cir. June 20, 2019) (unpublished): SUMMARY ORDER Plaintiff-Appellant Petra Beter, formerly a photographer for Michael Bloomberg’s first mayoral campaign, appeals from the judgment of the district court dismissing her lawsuit as ...

Beter v. Murdoch, 2019 WL 2537524 (2d Cir. June 20, 2019) (unpublished): SUMMARY ORDER Plaintiff-Appellant Petra Beter, formerly a photographer for Michael Bloomberg’s first mayoral campaign, appeals from the judgment of the district court dismissing her lawsuit asserting various causes …

RICO Enterprise: Association Not Distinct from Association-in-Fact Composed of Ass’n + Its Members — Head of Ass’n Is Distinct from Ass’n

Llacua v. W. Range Ass'n, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 20965 (10th Cir. July 16, 2019): I. INTRODUCTION Five Peruvian shepherds (the "Shepherds")

Llacua v. W. Range Ass'n, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 20965 (10th Cir. July 16, 2019): I. INTRODUCTION Five Peruvian shepherds (the "Shepherds")1 who worked in the Western United States pursuant to H-2A agricultural visas2 brought antitrust3 claims, …

§ 1782: Where Foreign Case Over, Fact Discovery May Permit Reopening Likely Not “For Use” — Foreign View Applicant’s Claims Totally Lack Merit Relevant to “Receptivity” — Can Magistrate Judge Decide 1782s? (See Dissent)

Khrapunov v. Prosyankin, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 22062 (9th Cir. July 24, 2019):

Khrapunov v. Prosyankin, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 22062 (9th Cir. July 24, 2019): 28 U.S.C. § 1782 authorizes, but does not require, federal district courts to assist in the production of evidence for use in a foreign or international tribunal.…

While Magistrate Judges May Not Impose Rule 11 Sanctions in the Second Circuit [& Can Only Issue R&Rs], They May Impose Monetary [& Other Non-Dispositive] Rule 37 Sanctions

Errant Gene Therapeutics, LLC v. Sloan-Kettering Inst. for Cancer Research, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 15860 (2d Cir. May 29, 2019) (unpublished): SUMMARY ORDER UPON DUE CONSIDERAT ...

Errant Gene Therapeutics, LLC v. Sloan-Kettering Inst. for Cancer Research, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 15860 (2d Cir. May 29, 2019) (unpublished): SUMMARY ORDER UPON DUE CONSIDERATION, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that the judgment of the district court…

Rule 11 Sanctions: Frivolousness Standard Unmet Because “Claims Were Not Disposed of So Easily As to Make Them Frivolous” (Good Quote)PER CURIAM:

Gatti v. Goodman, 2019 WL 3213887 (11t Cir. July 17, 2019) (unpublished): *1 Appellants Lou Gatti and Twin Palms, Inc., appeal the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Appellees Helen Goodman, Cliff Goodman, and Twin Palms Resort in this property dispute case. Federal court jurisdiction is based on diversit ...

§ 1782 — Tag Service = “Found” — Signatory to Hague Evidence Convention Likely Receptive to U.S. Discovery — When Is Action “Within Reasonable Contemplation”? — Discovery from Anticipated Defendant Inappropriate

Sandra Holding v. Fawzi, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 116920 (D. Mass. July 15, 2019): I. Introduction The petitioner, Sandra Holding Ltd. (Sandra Holding), seeks permission to obtain dis ...

Sandra Holding v. Fawzi, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 116920 (D. Mass. July 15, 2019): I. Introduction The petitioner, Sandra Holding Ltd. (Sandra Holding), seeks permission to obtain discovery in the United States for use in a foreign proceeding pursuant to…

Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

Rule 11 Safe Harbor — It Is the Burden of the Party against Whom Sanctions Are Sought to Prove Non-Compliance with Safe Harbor, Not the Burden of Movant to Prove Compliance

Sanctions — Gov’t Counsel’s Secretly Reading Inmates’ Communications with Counsel, Even after Bar Ethics Counsel Advised Stopping and Alerting Court, Violates Inherent Power and §1927 — “When in Doubt, Ask the Court” (Good Quote)

Sanctions: Expert Exclusion for Inadequate 26(a)(2)(A) Disclosures “So Generic, Unhelpful & Boilerplate They Could Apply to Virtually Any Case” (Good Quote)

Sanctions: Expert Exclusion — Scheduling Order Violation — When Only One Report Timely Submitted: “A Party Who … Put[s] All … Eggs in One Basket [Cannot] Complain When The Basket Proves Inadequate” (Good Quote)

FRAP 38 Sanctions Appropriate for Appeal “Brought without the Slightest Chance of Success” and Which “Thus Should Not Have Been Brought at All” (Good Quote)

RICO Enterprise: Association Not Distinct from Association-in-Fact Composed of Ass’n + Its Members — Head of Ass’n Is Distinct from Ass’n

§ 1782: Where Foreign Case Over, Fact Discovery May Permit Reopening Likely Not “For Use” — Foreign View Applicant’s Claims Totally Lack Merit Relevant to “Receptivity” — Can Magistrate Judge Decide 1782s? (See Dissent)

While Magistrate Judges May Not Impose Rule 11 Sanctions in the Second Circuit [& Can Only Issue R&Rs], They May Impose Monetary [& Other Non-Dispositive] Rule 37 Sanctions

Rule 11 Sanctions: Frivolousness Standard Unmet Because “Claims Were Not Disposed of So Easily As to Make Them Frivolous” (Good Quote)PER CURIAM:

§ 1782 — Tag Service = “Found” — Signatory to Hague Evidence Convention Likely Receptive to U.S. Discovery — When Is Action “Within Reasonable Contemplation”? — Discovery from Anticipated Defendant Inappropriate

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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