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Mealey's Discovery

  • February 24, 2026

    Opening Merits Brief Is Filed In High Court’s Geofence Warrant Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a Feb. 23 merits brief arguing in part that accessing location information culled from user’s mobile devices via a geofence warrant constitutes a search, a man who was convicted of armed robbery through evidence obtained via such a warrant urged the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that the warrants violate the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

  • February 24, 2026

    Magistrate Won’t Dismiss Counterclaims, Grants Stay In Liability Coverage Dispute

    JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — A Pennsylvania federal magistrate judge on Feb. 23 dismissed a professional liability insurer’s motion to dismiss bad faith and fiduciary duty counterclaims but granted an alternate motion to bifurcate and stay the counterclaims in the insurer’s declaratory judgment suit disputing coverage for an underlying action arising from alleged sexual abuse by a pediatrician.

  • February 24, 2026

    Parties To Fronting Arrangement Case Stipulate To Dismiss Claims, Counterclaims

    NEW ORLEANS — The parties to litigation over a disputed fronting agreement involving a managing general agent (MGA) and an insurer filed a stipulation of dismissal in a Louisiana federal court, stating that they have agreed to dismiss with prejudice all claims, counterclaims and intervenor claims.

  • February 24, 2026

    2nd Circuit Affirms Ruling Starting Discovery From Firm For Foreign Proceedings

    NEW YORK — Distinguishing Kiobel v. Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a grant of an application for discovery of documents from a U.S. law firm for use in foreign proceedings under Title 28 U.S. Code Section 1782.

  • February 24, 2026

    Judge Signs Agreed Order On Access To Expert’s Talc Testing, Lab

    CHICAGO — Merck & Co. Inc. is set to supplement expert reports and disclosures after an Illinois judge signed an agreed order on the discovery schedule and granted the company access to talc samples tested by plaintiff expert Stephen Compton and access to his lab.

  • February 24, 2026

    Magistrate Judge Says Shipyard Must Produce Employee File In Asbestos Case

    NEW ORLEANS — The relevant factors warrant compelling an employer to produce an employee’s work file in an asbestos case, with certain protections in place to protect against privacy violations and embarrassment, a federal magistrate judge in Louisiana said.

  • February 23, 2026

    Insurers Seek U.K. Broker Testimony In Gold Mine Coverage Breach Dispute

    NEW YORK — The defendants in an insurance coverage dispute arising out of alleged damage to gold mining equipment filed a motion in a New York federal court seeking the issuance of letters rogatory to compel sworn oral testimony in the United Kingdom from an insurance broker and two of its senior executives regarding the creation, drafting and placement of the property insurance program at issue.

  • February 23, 2026

    City Waives Response To Officers’ Petition For Review Of COVID Shot Data Suit Toss

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The city of Chicago waived its right to respond to a petition for writ of certiorari filed by current and former police officers asking the U.S. Supreme Court to address a circuit split regarding discovery and determine if a decision in an early 20th century smallpox case “should be limited or overturned in favor of a tiers-of-scrutiny approach in assessing First Amendment religious discrimination claims” in challenging the dismissal of claims that collection of their COVID-19 testing results and vaccination statuses violated federal and state law.

  • February 23, 2026

    Idaho High Court Affirms Discovery Sanctions Against Pro Se Litigant

    BOISE, Idaho — Affirming judgment in favor of a health system and related defendants that a jury awarded $52.5 million in compensatory and punitive damages, the Idaho Supreme Court said in part that the pro se appellant who was sanctioned for refusing to meet his discovery obligations had “continuously tested the patience of two experienced trial judges for over a year until they reasonably concluded that there was no alternative to striking his answer and entering default because every other measure had failed to secure his compliance” and his appellant arguments lacked “any factual or cogent legal basis.”

  • February 19, 2026

    Magistrate Grants Government’s Medical Records Bid In FCA Suit Over Coding ‘Fraud’

    NEW YORK — A New York federal magistrate judge on Feb. 18 granted the U.S. government’s request for medical records in its suit against Anthem Inc. alleging violations of the False Claims Act (FCA) related to alleged inaccurate diagnosis codes submitted to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for services provided to Anthem’s Medicare beneficiaries, finding that the request is “timely” and that the records “are in fact needed.”

  • February 19, 2026

    Mining Company: Recent Bankruptcy Plan Discovery Dooms Asbestos Case

    NEW ORLEANS — A recently discovered plan of reorganization supports the position that a Chapter 11 bankruptcy discharged all debts and liabilities and bars an asbestos suit against an alleged successor entity, a mining company argues after a federal judge in Louisiana denied its summary judgment motion based on the document’s absence.  The plaintiffs moved for contempt sanctions shortly after that ruling, citing “repeated misconduct” by the defendant, including reliance on the previously missing evidence.

  • February 19, 2026

    Judge: Work Product Protections Apply To Pro Se Plaintiff’s AI Use

    DETROIT — A pro se plaintiff’s use of artificial intelligence in a case is subject to protections, and because AI is a tool and not a person, providing it information about the case did not waive work product protections, a federal magistrate judge in Michigan said in denying a motion to compel.

  • February 18, 2026

    Government: Camp Lejeune Plaintiffs’ Bid To Nix Evidence Should Be Denied

    RALEIGH, N.C. — The U.S. government on Feb. 17 filed a brief in North Carolina federal court arguing that, with regard to the litigation over drinking water contamination at Camp Lejeune, the Plaintiffs’ Leadership Group’s (PLG) motion in limine requesting that the district court preclude the government from offering evidence of any award, payment or benefit immaterial to and/or outside of the scope of the offset provision in the Camp Lejeune Justice Act (CLJA), should be denied except for with respect to the PLG’s requested relief regarding unenumerated programs such as TRICARE.

  • February 18, 2026

    Securities Defendant’s AI Conversations Not Protected, Judge Says

    NEW YORK — A securities fraud defendant’s communications with Anthropic PBC’s Claude about his case are not protected by attorney-client privilege or the attorney work product doctrine, a federal judge in New York said Feb. 17.

  • February 18, 2026

    Suboxone MDL Judge Selects 100 Plaintiffs For Coordinated Discovery

    CLEVELAND — The judge overseeing the Suboxone film multidistrict litigation has randomly selected 100 plaintiffs to undergo coordinated core discovery proceedings pursuant to a previous case management order.

  • February 13, 2026

    Pa. Federal Judge Partly Grants Motion To Compel In LTD Benefits Case

    WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — A Pennsylvania federal judge on Feb. 12 declined to compel production of “batting average” information and communications concerning state or federal investigations but ordered the administrator of a group long-term disability (LTD) policy to provide some of the information a claimant seeks regarding incentives for insurance adjusters and reviewing physicians, the administrator’s review policies and procedures and its use of a third-party medical review company.

  • February 11, 2026

    Parties In AI Surgery Error Suit Should Cure Discovery Dispute, Judge Warns

    FORT WORTH, Texas — A federal judge in Texas asked the parties in a strict product liability and negligence suit, in which a woman claims she suffered grave injury from the use of artificial intelligence-guided surgery tools, to work at resolving a motion to compel discovery without court intervention and warned of the potential dangers of failing to do so.

  • February 10, 2026

    Disability Determination, Other Issues Briefed Before 6th Circuit In Benefits Case

    CINCINNATI — Arguing in part that the claimant’s “proven ability to work coupled with the improvement documented by her own treating providers” was sufficient to show that she was not totally disabled under the terms of the long-term disability (LTD) plan, appellants urged the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to affirm denial of benefits for a project director who stopped working because of symptoms she attributed to long COVID.

  • February 10, 2026

    Discovery Deadline Extended In Hurricane Coverage Dispute Involving LIGA

    BATON ROUGE, La. — A Louisiana federal magistrate judge granted homeowners’ unopposed motion for an extension to provide expert disclosures in their Hurricane Ida coverage dispute with an insurance carrier participating in the U.S. government’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA).

  • February 10, 2026

    LTD Insurer Objects To Order Allowing Discovery On Fiduciary Breach Claim

    MINNEAPOLIS — A long-term disability (LTD) insurer that is trying to get a federal magistrate judge’s discovery order reversed argues in a Minnesota federal court filing that the claimant should not have been allowed “to parse out conduct from an ordinary denial of benefits claim and re-brand it as a separate claim for breach of fiduciary duty and thereby obtain discovery in contravention of Eighth Circuit authority prohibiting discovery on” benefits claims asserted under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

  • February 10, 2026

    1st Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Negligence Suit Against Gun Marketplace Company

    BOSTON — The First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed in part a New Hampshire federal court’s ruling dismissing for lack of personal jurisdiction a former police officer and his wife’s negligence suit against a company that operates an online marketplace for firearms, finding “no basis for disturbing the District Court's purposeful-availment ruling insofar as it does not relate to” additional evidence provided by the couple.

  • February 10, 2026

    1st Circuit Affirms Discovery, Summary Judgment Rulings In Life Insurance Case

    BOSTON — Affirming summary judgment and discovery rulings in a life insurance beneficiary designation dispute involving a group life insurance policy governed by the Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance Act (FEGLIA), the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said in part that when one party finally filed a motion “for a court order to access [the decedent’s] medical records six years into litigation, the extended discovery period had already closed, and the parties had filed cross-motions for summary judgment.”

  • February 10, 2026

    Louisiana Judge Denies Genetic Testing In Asbestos Lung Cancer Case

    BATON ROUGE, La. — A Louisiana judge denied a motion to compel production of a blood sample for genetic testing in an asbestos lung cancer case, saying there was insufficient causation evidence before the court that would warrant allowing the medical procedure.

  • February 09, 2026

    Magistrate Grants Stipulation In Meta Social Media Addiction Discovery Dispute

    OAKLAND, Calif. — After parties filed a joint stipulation regarding discovery documents, a California federal magistrate judge issued an order granting the stipulation, which established that documents Meta Platforms Inc. agreed to produce constitute all documents currently at issue in a product liability multidistrict litigation over the purported addictive qualities for adolescents of several of the largest social media platforms.

  • February 09, 2026

    Washington Panel Affirms Discovery Sanctions, Other Issues In Water Pipe Case

    SEATTLE — Ruling against the appellants on every issue raised in the challenge including monetary and other sanctions for discovery violations in a civil suit over faulty water pipes, the Division I Washington Court of Appeals said in part that no authority was cited for the proposition “that due process required the” court that presided over a jury trial “to notify counsel that it was considering personal sanctions.”