Mealey's Discovery
-
June 23, 2025
High Court Won’t Review Discovery Ruling In ERISA Health Benefit Denial Dispute
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court in its June 23 order list denied a petition to review an Employee Retirement Income Security Act discovery ruling in favor of a multiemployer health plan; the petitioner had argued that the “decision exacerbates both the ongoing split between Circuits as to determining what a plan administrator must do in order to satisfy its fiduciary obligation to perform a full and fair review, as well as the inconsistent factors that courts employ in order to determine whether discovery should be permitted,” and the plan countered that the decision shows only “the routine exercise of judicial discretion in applying the same rule to differing facts.”
-
June 23, 2025
After Claims Of Info Sharing For Class Actions, OIG To Look At DOL Practices
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Plans have been revealed for an Office of Inspector General (OIG) audit of “how the U.S. Department of Labor [DOL] has shared investigative information with non-governmental entities involved in class action litigation and the extent of any related controls.”
-
June 18, 2025
Monsanto Says School District Not Entitled To Additional Depositions Of Witnesses
BURLINGTON, Vt. — Monsanto Co. filed a reply brief in Vermont federal court on June 17, arguing that a school district’s opposition to the company’s motion to quash the district’s Rule 30(b)(6) notice for deposition and motion for a protective order fails. Monsanto also contends that the district has already been given a “full and fair opportunity to explore” the topics about which it seeks information in its current notice of deposition.
-
June 18, 2025
Meta Must Provide Privacy Plaintiffs With Analyses Of Users’ Time On Facebook
SAN FRANCISCO — A putative class of Facebook users who sued Meta Platforms Inc. over the purported sharing of their protected health information (PHI) via its pixel tool are entitled to certain analyses and reports correlating users’ time spent on the social network with Meta’s revenue, a California federal magistrate judge ruled, finding the requested info relevant to the plaintiffs’ proposed damages theory.
-
June 18, 2025
Plaintiff Cites N.Y. Federal Ruling In Discovery Row Involving Reinsurance Info
STATESVILLE, N.C. — The plaintiff in a bad faith suit over an excess liability insurer’s alleged duty to indemnify has filed a notice of supplemental authority in which it directs the attention of a North Carolina federal court to a New York federal court ruling that it says “held that reserve and reinsurance information is discoverable in an insurance coverage action.”
-
June 17, 2025
2nd Circuit Affirms Quash Of Brazilian Oil Firm’s Discovery Subpoena On JPMorgan
NEW YORK — A Brazilian oil company that sought discovery of documents from JPMorgan Chase & Co. for use in foreign proceedings did not establish that the financial firm had control over the items sought, a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found, affirming a lower court’s decision to quash a discovery subpoena served on the firm.
-
June 16, 2025
Supreme Court Will Consider Pregnancy Center’s Jurisdictional Question
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 16 granted certiorari to an anti-abortion pregnancy center on its question of whether constitutional challenges to an investigative subpoena demanding the names of donors must first be adjudicated by a state court before they are ripe for federal court review.
-
June 16, 2025
Slain Inmate’s Mother’s Suit Settlement Mooted Discovery Quest, 6th Circuit Rules
CINCINNATI — Because the mother of a murdered prison inmate settled her claims against the prison and other parties, a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found that the voluntary dismissal of her lawsuit mooted an unresolved discovery matter in the trial court, leading the panel to dismiss her appeal.
-
June 13, 2025
Magistrate Partly Grants Insured’s Motion To Compel In Coronavirus Coverage Suit
NEW YORK — A federal magistrate judge in New York granted in part and denied in part a holding company for the U.S. interests in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group’s motion to compel its “all risk” insurers to produce certain documents they have withheld as privileged in a coronavirus coverage dispute, directing the insurers to produce communications with their reinsurers and produce documents containing reserve information unless there is another viable ground for withholding.
-
June 11, 2025
Ferrosilicon Producer Seeks Reconsideration On Discovery Limits In Cleanup Row
PADUCAH, Ky. — A ferrosilicon producer seeks reconsideration of a Kentucky federal magistrate judge’s ruling limiting the scope of the producer’s issued deposition topics, claiming that the court erred in failing to acknowledge a reinsurer as a proper party in the litigation and misinterpreted its role in a reinsurance contract in a dispute over pollution-related cleanup costs.
-
June 09, 2025
Ohio Appeals Court Partly Grants Inmate Mandamus In Records Request Dispute
CLEVELAND — An Ohio appeals court panel granted in part an incarcerated man’s petition for a writ of mandamus related to his request for seven categories of documents from an educational facility within the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) finding that three categories of documents that were withheld from production were not exempt from disclosure.
-
June 09, 2025
3rd Circuit: Generic Drug Maker Lacked Standing To Appeal Foreign Discovery Order
PHILADELPHIA — A Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found that it lacked jurisdiction over a discovery dispute in a New Jersey federal court that ultimately stems from an ongoing patent dispute in South Korea, holding that a discovery order under the federal statute that governs U.S. discovery for foreign proceedings was not an appealable final decision.
-
June 09, 2025
Insurer’s Motion To Compel Granted In Row Over Coverage For Underlying FCA Suit
BUFFALO, N.Y. — A New York federal magistrate judge granted an insurer’s motion to compel discovery in a dispute over whether its insureds are entitled to coverage in an underlying qui tam suit alleging violations of the federal False Claims Act (FCA) regarding Medicare fraud, finding in part that the policyholders’ argument that the motion is barred by delay lacks “merit.”
-
June 09, 2025
Supreme Court Grants Petition In DOGE Discovery Order Case; Narrowing Ordered
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A U.S. Supreme Court majority on June 6 treated a stay application as a petition for a writ of certiorari and granted it in an appeal challenging two trial court discovery orders in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case regarding U.S. DOGE Service’s (DOGE or USDS) authority.
-
June 06, 2025
Motion To Compel Partially Granted In Coverage Dispute With Debris Removal Company
NEW YORK — Agreeing with an insured debris removal company and its principal that an insurer’s discovery request covering a 10-year period is “overly broad,” a New York federal judge partially granted the motion to compel discovery in an insurer’s suit seeking to rescind two insurance policies for purported fraudulent misrepresentations in insurance applications, granting discovery limited to one year before the initial policy application and until the end of the last policy renewal period.
-
June 06, 2025
Judge Extends Discovery, Says Jurisdiction Prevents Employment Record Production
LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California on June 5 extended the discovery deadline for employment documents held by a third party in an asbestos action but said jurisdictional issues likely prevent him from ordering their production as requested in an ex parte motion and envisioned by a magistrate judge’s order.
-
June 05, 2025
Chinese Tech Firm Waives Mandamus Response In High Court Patent Discovery Row
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Chinese-owned flash memory chip company opted against responding to a petition for mandamus in which an American chip maker seeks relief from a discovery order requiring it to turn over sensitive documents to its Chinese rival, filing a notice of waiver with the U.S. Supreme Court on June 4.
-
June 04, 2025
Judge Orders Fracking Company To Comply With Discovery Request In Royalty Dispute
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — A West Virginia federal magistrate judge on June 3 granted a plaintiff’s motion to compel discovery in a royalty payment dispute with a hydraulic fracturing company, ruling that the information the plaintiff seeks, namely, documents and communications concerning the payment and distribution of royalties, is relevant to the case.
-
June 04, 2025
6th Circuit Denies PBMs’ Mandamus Petition For Discovery Order In Opioid MDL
CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 3 denied a petition for a writ of mandamus filed by a group of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in the nationwide opioid multidistrict litigation, rejecting arguments that the trial court’s discovery orders are “the kind of extraordinary abuses of discretion that justify mandamus relief.”
-
June 04, 2025
7th Circuit Affirms Dismissal For Lack Of Prosecution, Despite Horse Trampling
CHICAGO — A trial court did not abuse its discretion in dismissing a breach of contract suit for failure to prosecute based on a plaintiff's discovery failures and missed deadlines, a Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, also finding that an unsupported claim of being trampled by a horse did not suffice to support the plaintiff’s subsequent motion for relief from judgment.
-
June 03, 2025
Tech Firm Seeks Mandamus From High Court In Memory Chip Patent Discovery Row
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A flash memory chip maker filed a petition for mandamus with the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking relief from a trial court’s discovery order requiring it to turn over sensitive documents to a Chinese rival tech firm, which the petitioner says would violate an existing protective order and implicate national security concerns.
-
June 03, 2025
Judge Orders Pesticide Company To Provide More Answers In IP Discovery Dispute
COLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio federal magistrate judge on June 2 ordered plaintiff pesticide manufacturers identify with specificity the protectible elements of two copyrights they say were infringed by a defendant pesticide manufacturer, granting the defendant company’s motion to compel discovery in which the company accused the plaintiff entities of responding to questions about the copyrights with “evasive” answers.
-
June 03, 2025
IRS Opposes Bitcoin Owner’s Certiorari Bid Over Financial Records Summons
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Touting its investigative powers, the Internal Revenue Service filed a brief in the U.S. Supreme Court, opposing a petition for certiorari from a man whose financial records were seized from a cryptocurrency exchange via a judicially issued summons, arguing that there was no violation of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution because the petitioner had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the seized documents.
-
June 03, 2025
Federal Magistrate Says Conduct Warrants Case-Ending Sanctions In Trademark Fight
AUSTIN, Texas — A federal magistrate judge in Texas recommended that the chief operating officer of a plastics company be given terminating sanctions for his failure to turn over his cell phone and computer for examination in a trademark infringement suit brought by Yeti Coolers LLC.
-
May 29, 2025
J&J Entity, Experts Debate Need For Study Identities, Asbestos-Talc Causation
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Discovery into whether there is asbestos in talc and if it causes mesothelioma is irrelevant to a trade libel case accusing experts of falsely identifying individuals with only talc-based exposures, a Johnson & Johnson entity argues in an opposition to a motion to compel filed in a federal court in Virginia. Meanwhile, the experts urged the court to block the company’s attempts at a “freewheeling investigation” into the study participants, saying coded production of only facts about the individuals sufficiently protects the participants’ privacy.