Mealey's Discovery
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August 15, 2023
Judge Affirms Order Quashing Asbestos-Talc Subpoena To Medical Provider
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — A magistrate judge properly concluded that a subpoena seeking information related to an asbestos-talc study for use in other litigation was only minimally related to the case and would place an undue burden on the party, a federal judge in Virginia said Aug. 14 in affirming the ruling.
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August 14, 2023
In Post-Trial Briefs, Parties Spar Over Nonpublic Info On Captive Reinsurer
WILMINGTON, Del. — Post-trial briefs have been filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery in a suit over a captive reinsurer that issued dividends totaling approximately $1.2 billion, with a hedge fund arguing that it is entitled to nonpublic information under Delaware law and a public holding company asserting several contentions against that premise.
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August 11, 2023
Asbestos Referral Fee Ruling Sends ‘Embarrassment’ Of Case Back To 4th Circuit
BALTIMORE — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals will once again confront a case a judge on the court previously described as “an embarrassment to the legal profession,” after lawyers and law firms hit with more than $1 million in fees and costs for “never once” complying with court-ordered discovery in a dispute over asbestos case referrals filed a notice of appeal on Aug. 10.
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August 11, 2023
Fiduciary Exception Applies In Disability Discovery Dispute, Magistrate Judge Says
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota federal magistrate judge determined that a disability claimant is entitled to communications between a disability insurer and its attorney because the communications are exempted from protection under the fiduciary exception in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act as the communications occurred before the development of an adversarial relationship between the clamant and the disability insurer.
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August 11, 2023
Musk Denied Rehearing By 2nd Circuit In SEC Consent Decree Challenge
NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a two-sentence order denied a petition for rehearing or rehearing en banc filed by Elon Musk after the panel affirmed a trial court’s ruling finding that a consent decree between Musk and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regarding Musk’s communications about his company on social media should not be modified or terminated.
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August 10, 2023
U.S. Says Section 1782 Discovery Doesn’t Apply To ICSID In Amicus Brief
NEW YORK — The United States on Aug. 9 weighed in on a discovery dispute pending before the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, arguing in an amicus curiae brief that the court should affirm a ruling quashing an Italian company’s subpoena seeking discovery for use before an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) tribunal because ICSID tribunals are “ad hoc” entities not “imbued with governmental authority.”
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August 08, 2023
DOL Asks 2nd Circuit To Order Ruling On Subpoena Enforcement Bid
NEW YORK — Acting U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Julie Su has asked the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to direct a New York federal court to rule on a petition pending for more than two years in which the DOL seeks enforcement of an administrative subpoena issued in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act investigation.
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August 03, 2023
2nd Circuit Told Section 1782 Discovery Doesn’t Apply To ICSID Arbitrations
NEW YORK — The Republic of Panama and an engineering company in an appellee brief tell the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that it should affirm a ruling quashing an Italian company’s subpoena seeking discovery for an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) case, writing that under recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent a court cannot help a party obtain discovery for a “private investor-State arbitration proceeding.”
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August 03, 2023
Mesothelioma Defendants Defend Need For Blood Draw, Genetic Testing
LOS ANGELES — A couple alleging that a man’s asbestos exposure led to his mesothelioma cannot now seek to block a blood draw for genetic testing that could potentially identify a genetic mutation that could go to the heart of the causation question in the case, defendants tell a California judge.
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August 02, 2023
Apple Wants Confidential Materials Sealed In Privacy Suit Over Siri Recording
OAKLAND, Calif. — Responding to a motion to consider whether certain deposition materials should be sealed, which was filed by the plaintiffs in a putative class action over purported unauthorized recording by Apple Inc.’s Siri, Apple asked a California federal court to seal the items because they contain “highly confidential and proprietary sensitive information” about the digital personal assistant.
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August 01, 2023
Washington Appeals Court Reverses Medicaid Data Order In Opioid Case
SEATTLE — The Washington Court of Appeals on July 31 reversed a state trial court’s ruling allowing the release of certain information about opioid-related Medicaid claims to defendants Johnson & Johnson and Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc.
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August 01, 2023
Judge Won’t Expedite Briefing In Discovery Dispute Between AI Cofounders
SAN FRANCISCO — Although the cofounder of an artificial intelligence program adequately explains “what otherwise might appear to be an undue delay,” he has not demonstrated the need for expedited briefing on early discovery, a federal judge in California said July 31 in denying his motion.
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July 31, 2023
Pacing, Discovery At Issue In Artificial Intelligence $100 Share Sale Case
SAN FRANCISCO — Parties to a suit claiming that the cofounder of artificial intelligence Stability AI was duped into selling billions of dollars in shares for $100 briefed the need to expedite the case, limited early discovery, with the defendant saying in a July 28 brief that the plaintiff unjustly delayed filing the case and seeks to escape federal rules.
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July 28, 2023
FCA Suit Relator May Depose Officers But Cannot Compel Litigation Hold Notices
INDIANAPOLIS — A health care firm’s former employee, who alleges that his termination was due to whistleblowing, may conduct targeted depositions of certain company representatives regarding spoliation of evidence, an Indiana federal magistrate ruled, granting in part a motion to compel production by the relator in a qui tam action over alleged False Claims Act (FCA) violations, while denying his request to compel production of the litigation hold notices the company issued to employees.
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July 27, 2023
Prisoner Class Must Respond To Mandamus Petition In Vaccine Distribution Case
SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ordered prisoners suing over Oregon’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout to file an answer to the state’s petition for a writ of mandamus, which challenges a trial court’s order compelling the deposition of the former governor.
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July 27, 2023
Emergency Stay Bid Withdrawn From U.S. Supreme Court In Microcaptive Info Dispute
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Citing an agreement with the United States, the Delaware Department of Insurance (DDOI) on July 26 withdrew an emergency application it filed in the U.S. Supreme Court less than a week earlier in the corporate privacy case involving microcaptive insurance company information.
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July 27, 2023
Named Plaintiff In Ford Transmission Class Case Sanctioned For Trade-In
CHICAGO — A named plaintiff in a consolidated putative class lawsuit accusing Ford Motor Co. of selling and leasing certain F-150 trucks with defective transmissions breached his preservation duty when he traded in his vehicle with no notice to Ford, a federal judge in Illinois ruled, granting the vehicle maker’s motion for sanctions and dismissing that plaintiff’s claims.
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July 25, 2023
Covington Must Disclose Some Clients’ Names To SEC In Response To Subpoena
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Securities and Exchange Commission is entitled to have access to the names of certain clients of Covington & Burling LLP whose material nonpublic information (MNPI) was accessed during a cyberattack, a District of Columbia federal judge ruled July 24, partly granting the SEC’s motion to enforce the subpoena, while trimming the number of clients from a list of 298 to just seven that were deemed relevant to the commission’s investigation.
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July 24, 2023
Parties To AI Image Discovery Spat Detail Dispute Over Jurisdiction
WILMINGTON, Del. — Parties to a federal court case in Delaware filed letter briefs over a discovery dispute involving allegations that an artificial intelligence company is withholding evidence about jurisdiction and the relationship between its United Kingdom and Delaware entities that goes directly to the alter ego allegations.
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July 24, 2023
In Antitrust Action Over Sham Patent Litigation, Document Production Ordered
PHILADELPHIA — Upon in camera review of 211 privileged and/or work product documents related to sham patent litigation, a federal judge in Pennsylvania has ordered AbbVie Inc. and Besins Healthcare Inc. (AbbVie, collectively) to produce nearly 20 exhibits to plaintiffs in an action alleging antitrust violations by the drugmakers.
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July 21, 2023
Judge Adopts Fees Ruling, Finding Lawyers Never Complied With Court Orders
BALTIMORE — A federal judge in Maryland said she agreed “wholesale” with a magistrate judge’s conclusion that much of the litigation over asbestos case referral fees could have been avoided had the defendant simply complied with the court’s discovery order.
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July 19, 2023
Party Details Dispute Over Jurisdiction, Alter Ego In AI Image Discovery Spat
WILMINGTON, Del. — An artificial intelligence company is withholding evidence about jurisdiction and the relationship between its United Kingdom and Delaware entities that goes directly to the alter ego allegations, an image company told a federal judge in Delaware on July 18.
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July 19, 2023
3rd Circuit Won’t Stay Mandate In Case Over Delaware Microcaptive Info
PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel that ruled against the Delaware Department of Insurance (DDOI) in a case the panel said “pits Delaware’s authority to protect corporate privacy against the power of the IRS” on July 18 denied DDOI’s motion to stay the mandate pending an intended certiorari petition.
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July 18, 2023
Florida Appeals Court: Trial Court Must Finalize Pelvic Mesh Discovery Order
MIAMI — A Florida state appeals court has granted a petition for mandamus compelling a state trial court to enter an appealable final judgment in a pelvic mesh discovery lawsuit.
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July 18, 2023
Opioid MDL Judge OKs Plaintiffs’ Access To Updated DEA Drug Database
CLEVELAND — The Ohio federal judge overseeing the opioid multidistrict litigation has granted a motion by the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee (PEC) to enforce a subpoena on the Drug Enforcement Administration to produce updated opioid drug distribution data from the agency’s ARCOS data base, saying it is relevant to pending litigation.