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Mealey's Discovery

  • July 26, 2024

    In 1st Impression Case, Panel Says Snapchat, Meta Must Provide Subpoenaed Info

    SAN DIEGO — In a case of first impression, a California appellate court granted petitions for writs of mandate, ruling that the Stored Communications Act’s (SCA) disclosure limitations are inapplicable to bar compliance with subpoenas requesting access to social media posts made by a murder victim on Facebook and Snapchat because the platforms’ decisions to access their “users’ communications” puts them outside the SCA’s disclosure limitations.

  • July 25, 2024

    J&J, Plaintiffs Extend Battle Over Inspection Of Asbestos Expert’s Lab

    TRENTON, N.J. — Johnson & Johnson entities objected to a special master’s ruling precluding them from inspecting expert William Longo’s lab, saying his type of “sham-magic” requires a unique solution.  But in response, the plaintiffs say that if the outcome of the testing is truly as clear as the defendants portray it, then they do not require such unprecedented and burdensome discovery.

  • July 25, 2024

    Magistrate Judge Denies Bid To Stay Discovery In UCL Suit Against Vape Sellers

    SAN DIEGO — A California federal magistrate judge on July 24 denied a group of online e-cigarette retailers’ ex parte motion to stay discovery in a lawsuit brought against them along with several Chinese e-cigarette manufacturers by e-cigarette maker NJOY LLC, an Altria Group Inc. subsidiary, for allegedly violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and federal cigarette regulations by illegally selling “Elf Bar”-brand flavored disposable vapes (FDVs).

  • July 24, 2024

    Man Drops Reliance On Expert Moline’s 2023 Asbestos-Talc Study

    NEW YORK — A man pursuing a mesothelioma action against American International Industries (AII) told a New York federal court in a letter that he would withdraw reliance on expert Jacqueline Moline’s 2023 article titled “Exposure to Cosmetic Talc and Mesothelioma” and requested that the related pending motions and discovery requests be denied.

  • July 23, 2024

    Magistrate Grants Adult Video Company’s Bid To Serve ISP In Illegal Download Row

    ORLANDO, Fla. — A Florida federal magistrate judge on July 22 granted in part a motion filed by an adult video company to serve the internet service provider (ISP) of an unknown defendant accused of copyright infringement related to alleged illegal downloading and distributing of the video company’s content, finding that because serving the ISP is necessary for the company to proceed in this case, the company may serve the ISP with specified protections regarding identifying information.

  • July 22, 2024

    Kazakhstan, Moldovan Investors Settle Arbitral Feud As Judge Compels Subpoenas

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge granted in part two Moldovan investors and their companies’ motion to compel responses from a banking entity in support of enforcement of an arbitral award against Kazakhstan worth more than $500 million, as reports say the parties reached a settlement of the long-running feud.

  • July 22, 2024

    2nd Circuit Affirms Denial Of Section 1782 Discovery To ICSID Dispute

    NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 19 affirmed a ruling quashing an Italian company’s subpoena seeking discovery for use before an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) tribunal, writing that the federal statute governing discovery in assistance of foreign courts does not apply to ad hoc ICSID tribunals under recent U.S Supreme Court precedent.

  • July 22, 2024

    Parties To Asbestos-Talc Subpoena Appeal Debate Impact Of Expert Ruling

    RICHMOND, Va. — Parties to a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals case involving a ruling quashing a subpoena into the identifies of individuals who participated on a causation study recently filed letter briefs about the relevance of a ruling dismissing LTL Management LLC’s case against a different expert.

  • July 19, 2024

    Insureds File Contempt Motion In Hurricane Coverage Row With Guaranty Association

    LAKE CHARLES, La. — Insureds whose rental property purportedly incurred hurricane damage filed a contempt motion in Louisiana federal court against an independent adjustor for its failure to respond to a subpoena in their hurricane coverage dispute with the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA), which was substituted for their now-insolvent insurer.

  • July 19, 2024

    Talc MDL Special Master Denies Litigation Funding Discovery Request

    TRENTON, N.J. — Questions surrounding litigation funding in the asbestos-talc federal multidistrict litigation don’t go to the claims or defenses before the court, and ordering discovery simply because plaintiffs refuse to settle would open the floodgates to such requests, a federal special master said, quashing subpoenas.

  • July 18, 2024

    Reinsurer Communication, ‘Apex Doctrine’ Discovery Disputes Decided In Coverage Row

    SAN FRANCISCO — In separate orders resolving two discovery disputes in a breach of contract and bad faith suit over coverage for property damages wineries sustained during California wildfires, a California federal magistrate judge granted a motion to compel production of the insurer’s communications with reinsurers regarding the claims and denied an “apex doctrine” request to bar one of insurer’s employees from deposition.

  • July 18, 2024

    Meta Opposes Pixel Privacy Plaintiffs’ Bid To Reopen Discovery Briefing

    SAN FRANCISCO — Disputing that it has reached an impasse with the plaintiffs who sued it for privacy violations related to the Pixel tracking tool, Meta Platforms Inc. asked a California federal court to reject their “manufactured urgency” in discovery proceedings and maintain a magistrate-ordered briefing moratorium while the parties continue discovery negotiations.

  • July 11, 2024

    Bankrupt Cosmetics Company Agrees To Discovery Requests By Asbestos Claimants

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal bankruptcy judge approved a stipulation under which Chapter 11 debtor Ben Nye Co. Inc. and the company’s financial advisers will produce documents about the debtor’s financial affairs, the use of talc in its products and other topics to five asbestos personal injury law firms and their clients.

  • July 10, 2024

    Denying FTC’s Motion To Compel Amazon Messages, Judge Instead Orders Deposition

    SEATTLE — Acknowledging that production of Amazon.com Inc.’s internal litigation hold notices may ultimately be necessary to establish if any spoliation occurred due to its employees’ use of an ephemeral messaging app related to antitrust claims against it, a Washington federal judge on July 9 denied a motion by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to compel production of the notices, which are not generally discoverable, deeming it more appropriate for the commission to first depose an Amazon representative on the matter.

  • July 09, 2024

    In Camera Review Ordered Of Clawed-Back Documents In Amazon Alexa Privacy Suit

    SEATTLE — A Washington federal judge on July 8 found that plaintiffs who sued Amazon.com Inc. over the unauthorized recording and retention of private conversations sufficiently established “a good faith belief” that at least some of the more than 2,000 documents that the defendant clawed back from its discovery production were improperly withheld as privileged, granting their motion for in camera review of those documents.

  • July 09, 2024

    Asbestos Lab Analyst’s Work With Longo Requires Deposition, Talc Company Says

    ATLANTA — A lab analyst isn’t an “innocent bystander” but the person who actually peers into the microscope, makes observations about whether talc contains asbestos and collaborates closely with testifying witness William Longo in asbestos litigation, a talc company told a federal judge in Georgia in response to an objection to a magistrate judge’s ruling permitting the man’s deposition.

  • July 09, 2024

    N.Y. Justice: Moline, Hospital Don’t Have To Disclose Asbestos Study Subjects

    NEW YORK — Asbestos expert Jacqueline Moline and her employer obscured the names of individuals used on two of her studies on talc as required by law, and various Johnson & Johnson entities have not shown that they cannot challenge her opinions or adequately defend themselves absent the identity of those individuals, a New York justice said in granting a motion to quash and denying a motion to compel.

  • July 09, 2024

    DOJ Tells Supreme Court Trump Twitter Warrant Complied With 1st Amendment

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Opposing a petition for certiorari by X Corp.  (formerly known as Twitter Inc.), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) tells the U.S. Supreme Court that a warrant that it obtained to search former President Donald J. Trump’s Twitter account and an accompanying nondisclosure order (NDO) did not violate executive privilege because they were issued in accordance with the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Stored Communications Act (SCA).

  • July 08, 2024

    OpenAI, New York Times Debate Discovery Of Reporters’ Notes In AI Copyright Suit

    NEW YORK — In letter briefing, the New York Times Co. (NYT) and OpenAI battle over whether copyright claims linked to artificial intelligence ChatGPT’s alleged reproduction of news articles permit discovery into reporters’ notes and associated materials underlying the stories.

  • July 05, 2024

    Microsoft, OpenAI Defend Need For Consolidation Of Media AI Suits

    NEW YORK — Companies at the heart of suits over artificial intelligence urged a federal judge in New York in July 3 reply briefs to consolidate two cases brought by various newspapers and grant additional time for discovery required by the sprawling nature of the allegations.

  • July 03, 2024

    Tribes’ Privilege Question Goes Unanswered As High Court Deems Suit Moot

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — An appeal over the scope of the legislative privilege by two Native American tribes was mooted by a trial court ruling in the underlying voter redistricting dispute, the U.S. Supreme Court held in its July 2 order list, in which it granted the tribes’ request to vacate an Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals mandamus petition related to two discovery orders.

  • July 03, 2024

    Judge Allows Discovery To Be Reopened Before Trial In Groundwater Pollution Case

    OKLAHOMA CITY — A federal judge in Oklahoma has ruled that an oil and gas exploration company that is a defendant in a groundwater contamination case may reopen discovery for the limited purpose of inspecting specific items on the plaintiffs’ property before trial because the plaintiffs will “face no undue or unfair prejudice” as a result.

  • July 02, 2024

    Citing Prudential, Appellees Urge 3rd Circuit To Affirm Securities Row Dismissal

    PHILADELPHIA — Arguing primarily that City of Warren Police and Fire Ret. Sys. v. Prudential Fin. is dispositive, a reinsurer and three former executives urge the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to uphold discovery and summary judgment rulings in a suit over allegations that they violated federal securities laws by omitting historical loss ratios from loss reserves disclosures.

  • July 01, 2024

    3rd Parties In Train Derailment Case Want Norfolk Southern’s Evidence Stricken

    YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Third-party defendants in the litigation against Norfolk Southern Railway Co. and Norfolk Southern Corp. (Norfolk Southern, collectively) related to toxic chemicals spilled during the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, have filed a reply brief in Ohio federal court arguing that “Norfolk Southern’s failure to comply with this Court’s order, especially given its concession that it only seeks derivative damages, warrants exclusion of evidence concerning its alleged remediation and response costs at trial.”

  • July 01, 2024

    Magistrate Denies Motion To Quash Subpoena In Medicare Advantage Fraud Dispute

    TAMPA, Fla. — One day after a Florida federal magistrate judge granted in part Medicare Advantage (MA) insurers’ motion to compel production of a litigation sharing agreement involving the relator in the instant case who alleged that medical providers and the insurers violated the False Claims Act (FCA), the magistrate judge on June 28 denied the insurers’ motion to quash a subpoena as untimely, finding that the delay in scheduling a deposition “will not prejudice” the insurers.