Although the defendant was ordered to respond to long-overdue discovery, the sanctions requested by the plaintiff, including striking of a counterclaim and affirmative defenses, were disproportionate. As the pandemic likely made discovery more difficult and the parties are still litigating ...

Tagged with: Evidence Judge Theresa C. Buchanan U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Two attorneys who represented a defendant in state-court criminal proceedings related to a Unite the Right rally failed to quash subpoenas served on them by plaintiffs. The subpoenas did not seek privileged documents, did not require conduct in violation of ...

Tagged with: Evidence Judge Joel Hoppe U.S. District Court - Western District

An opinion about the damage caused by the loss of marketability of real property, during and after construction of a natural gas pipeline, was unsupported by any facts or data and relied on an inaccurate measure of damages. Background Mountain ...

Tagged with: Evidence Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon U.S. District Court - Western District

County officials could not claw-back a purportedly privileged report prepared during an internal investigation because any privilege or protection was waived by the county’s significant delay in attempting to retrieve the files after learning they had been given to plaintiff’s ...

Tagged with: Evidence Judge Norman K. Moon U.S. District Court - Western District

The newspaper lost its motion to quash a subpoena for a recording of an interview with the defendant in a suit brought by teachers. The information was relevant to the claims and could not be obtained by alternative means, there ...

Tagged with: Evidence Judge Robert E. Payne U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A non-party’s alleged improper motive in seeking to unseal more than 1,300 pages attached to a motion for summary judgment was insufficient to continue the sealing. The documents were unsealed with personal identifying and financial information redacted. Background On March ...

Tagged with: Evidence Judge Joel Hoppe U.S. District Court - Western District

Where the CEO of an insurance company had no unique or special knowledge of the issues in a case involving the issuance of immigration bonds, and other witnesses likely had relevant knowledge that was not explored during discovery, the CEO ...

Tagged with: Evidence Judge Joel Hoppe U.S. District Court - Western District

Where defendants raised advice of counsel as an affirmative defense to a suit alleging they improperly classified their employees, and where they made selective production of documents and produced their attorney for a deposition, they waived attorney-client privilege as to ...

Tagged with: Evidence Judge Lawrence R. Leonard U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Emails prepared in response to possible litigation were not covered by the work product doctrine because they did not involve investigation of the claim or development of legal strategy, and were not part of a coordinated defense strategy with the ...

Tagged with: Evidence Judge Robert S. Ballou U.S. District Court - Western District

In a trial over damages for land taken for an easement required for construction of a natural gas pipeline, the landowners’ expert may testify about the high demand for residential subdivisions, but cannot testify about the stigma attached to pipelines, ...

Tagged with: Evidence Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon U.S. District Court - Western District