Mealey's Discovery : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Discovery

August 08, 2025
Sanctions, Judgment For Probate Lawyers’ Discovery Failings Affirmed By Panel

HOUSTON — A Texas appeals court panel found that two lawyers’ repeated objections to a probate court’s jurisdiction were “a transparent attempt to avoid even basic discovery regarding the merits,” leading the panel to affirm the lower court's “death penalty” sanctions that resulted in the striking of pleadings and entry of default judgment against the attorneys in a dispute over a $10 million fee retention for a property sale under a contingency fee agreement in violation of a restraining order.
August 08, 2025
General Agent’s Bid For Reconsideration Fails, But Insurer’s LUTPA Claim Tossed

NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal judge denied a managing general agent’s (MGA) motion to reconsider the dismissal of its counterclaim in a case centered on a disputed fronting agreement, holding that the motion “essentially rehashes the core argument the Court considered and rejected in its order and reasons,” but granted the MGA’s alternative motion for partial judgment on the pleadings and dismissed a life insurer’s claim that the MGA violated Louisiana law.
August 08, 2025
Kanye West Says More Sanctions Not Needed In Copyright Infringement Suit

LOS ANGELES — Kanye West tells a California federal court that further sanctions are unnecessary in a copyright infringement suit involving accusations he lifted samples for songs on his album “Donda,” disagreeing with an artist revenue entity’s assertion that a deposition shows that West and business entities associated with him had made false statements about discovery to the court.
August 08, 2025
Calif. Judge Sanctions City Plaintiffs In Modesto Dry-Cleaning Pollution Dispute

SAN FRANCISCO — Finding that “egregious discovery violations” were committed, a California judge imposed issue, evidence and monetary sanctions on the city of Modesto regarding the concealing and destroying of records that show the known existence of perchloroethylene (PCE) contamination in sewers at several former dry-cleaning sites around the city three years before it filed a lawsuit against two chemical companies.
August 07, 2025
Judge Cites ‘Unique Relevance,’ Largely Declines To Strike Asbestos Witnesses

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California struck eight of 24 witnesses in an asbestos case but said the “unique relevance” of two others and the fact that the defendants appeared equally liable for an untimely deposition of a third warrants allowing their testimony.
August 06, 2025
Pa. Federal Judge Holds Off On Ordering Sanctions Against Firm In Thalidomide Cases

PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge in Pennsylvania on Aug. 5 ruled that he will grant a law firm and its attorneys, who represented plaintiffs who claimed that they suffered birth defects as a result of their mothers being given the drug thalidomide to treat morning sickness during their pregnancies, “the opportunity to be heard once before” he decides if sanctions are warranted for the firm’s alleged misconduct during the litigation, which began in 2011.
August 06, 2025
Florida Judge Permits Whole Genome Testing In Consumer Talc Meso Case

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Two defendants may obtain a blood sample to perform whole genome genetic testing of a 33-year-old mesothelioma sufferer, a judge in Florida said in granting the request and overruling the plaintiffs’ objection.
August 06, 2025
Man Tells Supreme Court Geofence Warrants Violate 4th Amendment

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A man who was arrested for bank robbery after being tracked via a geofence warrant served on Google LLC by law enforcement filed a petition for certiorari asking the U.S. Supreme Court to decide on the constitutionality of such warrants.
August 05, 2025
Military Court: Government Had No Control, Custody Of Data On Locked Phone

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Because the government did not have access to the data on a cell phone seized from an accused army member, a military appeals court majority concluded that it did not have “possession, custody, or control” of the data and, therefore, was not required to provide the defendant with access to his phone for discovery purposes.
August 04, 2025
Montana High Court Affirms Dismissal, Fees Sanctions In False Arrest Lawsuit

HELENA, Mont. — The Montana Supreme Court affirmed a discovery sanctions ruling against a man that violated an order of protection (OOP), finding that a trial court’s dismissal of his complaint against an arresting police officer and the assessment of attorney fees against him were supported by state law and were appropriate in light of his failure to comply with a discovery order.
August 01, 2025
Judge Stays Discovery Application, Instead Compels Arbitration In Argentina

MIAMI — A Florida federal judge on July 31 granted a motion by two Florida companies to stay an application for discovery assistance filed by an investor seeking to bring criminal charges against the companies and to compel arbitration in Argentina of the dispute related to a purchase agreement between the parties, writing that the court can apply federal arbitration law to a proceeding that began as an ex parte application to obtain evidence.
August 01, 2025
Guaranty Association Seeks To Compel Discovery In Coverage Row With Homeowner

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA), which was substituted as a defendant for a now-insolvent insurer, moved to compel discovery of a homeowner in her suit alleging that the insurer failure to adequately compensate her for purported damage to her home.
July 31, 2025
Judge Strikes Some Defenses, Complains Of ‘Gamesmanship’ In Musk-Altman Battle

SAN FRANCISCO — Elon Musk and Samuel Altman are participating in “gamesmanship” in their litigation against each other, a federal judge in California said in declining to wade through the “excessive affirmative defenses” and an overreaching motion to strike them and instead eliminating only the 16 “clearly immaterial” ones.
July 31, 2025
7th Circuit Upholds Dismissal, Monetary Sanctions For Software Engineer, Lawyer

CHICAGO — Citing inconsistent testimony and multiplying proceedings in an employment dispute, a Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a trial court’s decision to impose sanctions in the form of dismissal, costs and attorney fees against a fired employee of the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and his lawyer.
July 30, 2025
Oral Argument On Motion To Compel Set In Case Centered On Fronting Arrangement

NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal magistrate judge scheduled oral argument for Aug. 20 on a managing general agent (MGA)’s motion to compel in litigation concerning a disputed fronting agreement involving it and an insurer; the magistrate judge also dismissed as moot the insurer’s motions to quash and expedite discovery proceedings because both parties were ordered to “meet and confer to schedule the depositions for August 2025.”
July 30, 2025
DOJ Opposes Petition Over Right To Appeal Privileged Document Subpoena

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Filing an opposition brief on behalf of the U.S. government, the U.S. Department of Justice recommends that the U.S. Supreme Court deny a petition for certiorari from a third party in a grand jury investigation that seeks to appeal an order compelling purportedly privileged documents, arguing that an asserted exception does not apply and that the appeal may be pursued via an established procedure that includes contempt.
July 28, 2025
Delaying Discovery In Bad Faith Suit Not Warranted, Utah Federal Judge Says

SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah federal judge denied an insurer’s motion to stay discovery until an opinion is issued on the insurer’s motion for summary judgment after determining that staying discovery will cause prejudice to the plaintiffs and will delay the resolution of the plaintiffs’ breach of contract and bad faith suit stemming from a claim for underinsured motorist (UIM) benefits.
July 25, 2025
Texas Panel Finds Discovery Orders In Defamation Suit Issued Under Wrong Standard

DALLAS — A state court judge abused his discretion by ordering two defamation defendants to turn over their electronic devices for forensic discovery without considering less intrusive means, a Texas appeals panel ruled, conditionally granting the defendants’ petition for mandamus and remanding the discovery matters for further consideration.
July 25, 2025
New York Justice Partly Grants Insured’s Request To Review Discovery Order

NEW YORK — A New York justice granted in part a commodities investment manager insured’s request for review and clarification of a judicial hearing officer’s ruling regarding document discovery in an excess professional liability coverage dispute arising from underlying claims that the insured conspired to commit fraud.
July 24, 2025
Judge: Common Interest Agreement Isn’t License To Violate Protective Order

OAKLAND, Calif. — Saying, “A common interest agreement with a third party does not give plaintiffs the right to violate the protective order governing this case,” a California federal judge briefly granted an administrative motion filed by defendants in in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over alleged underpayment for out-of-network behavioral health treatment.
July 22, 2025
Split Pennsylvania Panel Deems 2 Hospital Reports Privileged In Negligence Suit

PHILADELPHIA — Partly reversing and remanding a trial court’s ruling requiring a hospital operator to submit internal reports to the parents of a child at the center of a birth injury negligence lawsuit, a Pennsylvania Superior Court panel majority concluded that two of the reports were prepared in accordance with a federal patient safety reporting law and, thus, qualified for privilege as “patient safety work product.”
July 22, 2025
No Coverage Owed For Damaged AC Units Because Hotel Was Vacant, Panel Affirms

CHICAGO — The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals determined that a lower federal court’s discovery sanctions against a hotel owner insured were “an appropriate, proportionate response” to the insured’s failure to produce requested documents as to the hotel’s occupancy and not an abuse of discretion, affirming a lower court’s ruling that there was no coverage owed for the hotel’s damaged air conditioner units because the hotel was vacant at the time of the vandalism and the insurer did not act in bad faith.
July 22, 2025
Asbestos Defendant Wants Sanctions For Late Disclosure Of Talc Bottle

SEATTLE — American International Industries told a Washington State judge that the problems created by the failure to disclose a bottle of talc before testing are not cured by withdrawing the evidence and resulting opinion and that evidentiary and monetary sanctions are required.
July 21, 2025
Panel Tosses CERCLA, State Claims, Says Sanctions Valid In N.Y. Site Cleanup Case

NEW YORK — A Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled that a six-year statute of limitations pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act commenced on an alloy and metal processing company’s claims for reimbursement of millions of dollars for response costs and damages associated with the release of hazardous substances at the site of a New York metal recycling operation and that spoliation sanctions for the company’s destruction of more than 23,000 pounds of documents was, in fact, warranted.
July 21, 2025
Fact Discovery Closed After Judge Refuses To Certify IPhone Data Class Action

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal judge on July 18 entered a stipulated order closing fact discovery in a class action against Apple Inc. after denying in an earlier order the plaintiff’s motion for class certification on claims that Apple wastes iPhone users’ cellular data even when their phones were set to reduce the consumption of data, in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL), and denying as moot opposing motions to exclude expert witnesses.