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Mealey's Discovery

  • February 21, 2025

    Citing ‘Glacial Pace,’ Plaintiffs In AI Copyright Suit Seek To Compel Discovery

    SAN FRANCISCO — While the company behind the Claude artificial intelligence promises to produce discovery before upcoming deadlines, its “glacial pace” over the last four months necessitates a court order compelling the production by certain deadlines to ensure that it doesn’t benefit from further delay, plaintiffs in a copyright suit tell a federal judge in California in a Jan. 20 letter brief.

  • February 21, 2025

    4th Circuit Finds Pro Se Plaintiff Was Wrongly Denied Post-Stay Discovery

    RICHMOND, Va. — A trial court abused its discretion in denying a plaintiff’s request for discovery as untimely in a negligence suit against the United States, a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, holding that even if a second request served after the lifting of a discovery stay was untimely, a pre-stay request was not.

  • February 20, 2025

    9th Circuit: Prison Review Reports Were Privileged, Shouldn’t Have Been Produced

    SAN FRANCISCO — Reversing a trial court’s ruling to produce certain prison review reports in response to discovery requests by a plaintiff prisoner and intervenor publications, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel majority found that the primary purpose of the meetings from which the reports come is to obtain legal counsel, making the reports protected by the attorney-client privilege.

  • February 18, 2025

    Court Won’t Require Judge To Explain Ruling Excluding AI-Obtained Evidence

    CLEVELAND — A trial judge does not need to explain why he suppressed evidence after a suspect successfully argued that it was obtained through a warrant that relied on artificial intelligence facial recognition software that a company itself admits is not reliable, an Ohio appeals court said in denying a motion seeking to direct the judge to issue findings of fact.

  • February 18, 2025

    Magistrate Orders Another Attempt To Resolve Discovery Row In Breach Lawsuit

    FORT WORTH, Texas — A Texas federal magistrate judge ordered parties to “confer and make a good-faith effort to resolve” a discovery dispute that is the subject of a motion to compel in four reinsurers’ consolidated lawsuits against National Transportation Associates Inc. (NTA) over allegations of inflated provisional commissions and breach of various agreements.

  • February 14, 2025

    Magistrate Sustains Some Deposition Objections In Social Media Addiction MDL

    OAKLAND, Calif. — A California federal magistrate judge sustained some objections in a product liability multidistrict ligation over the purported addictive qualities for adolescents of several of the largest social media platforms, finding that certain deposition topics related to the “factual basis” for the plaintiff states’ beliefs “are contention deposition topics” and not appropriate for the MDL.

  • February 13, 2025

    Discovery Facilitator Named In Delaware Suit Over Alleged Asset Dissipation

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A discovery facilitator has been appointed in a Delaware Chancery Court case concerning the “Agera transactions” — a complex asset-swap arrangement that the plaintiffs allege resulted in the “dissipation of at least $250 million.”

  • February 13, 2025

    Judge Upholds Limits On Depositions, Discovery In ChatGPT Copyright Case

    SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California denied a motion for relief from a pretrial order, turning away arguments that limits on depositions were improper in such a complex copyright infringement case and that OpenAI entities’ income was relevant evidence in the case.

  • February 12, 2025

    Plaintiffs Seek To Compel Discovery From Maker Of Firefighter Gear In AFFF MDL

    CHARLESTON, S.C. — The Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee (PEC) in the multidistrict litigation for the firefighting agent called aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) has filed a reply brief in South Carolina federal court seeking to compel a defendant to respond to the PEC’s requests for production of documents and interrogatories, arguing that it is “undisputed” that the defendant sold what is referred to as turnout gear (TOG) that contained per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to firefighters across the country.

  • February 12, 2025

    Texas State Agencies Say They Are Immune From Paraquat Discovery, Seek Court Order

    BENTON, Ill. — Texas state agencies have moved an Illinois federal court to take judicial notice of a ruling in a Texas federal court that quashed certain subpoenas that were issued in the multidistrict litigation for liability from injuries connected to the pesticide paraquat, arguing that the MDL court should rule that the agencies are immune from third-party discovery.

  • February 12, 2025

    California Judge Limits Testing In Mesothelioma Case To BAP1 Gene

    OAKLAND, Calif. — An asbestos defendant may perform genetic testing in an asbestos case, but because expert testimony suggests that science has shown that only a BAP1 mutation can independently cause mesothelioma, the testing will be limited to that single issue, a judge in California said in partially granting a motion to compel production of a sample for testing.

  • February 12, 2025

    6th Circuit Affirms Former Exec’s Losses In ‘Top Hat’ Severance Benefits Row

    CINCINNATI — Affirming that the executive severance plan at issue in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit “qualifies as a top-hat plan,” a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel upheld discovery and judgment on the administrative record rulings against the appellant and found no error in the striking of his jury demand.

  • February 11, 2025

    Depositions Stayed, Intervention Ruling Deferred In GEICO $1M No-Fault Fraud Suit

    BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A New York federal magistrate judge on Feb. 10 deferred ruling on the U.S. government’s motion to intervene but granted its motion to stay depositions for 90 days in a no-fault insurance fraud suit alleging that the defendants, some of whom have been indicted in a related criminal case, participated in a “scheme” to submit to GEICO for payment fraudulent no-fault insurance charges of more than $1 million, finding that the government showed that a stay is warranted but failed to indicate whether the parties consented to intervention.

  • February 11, 2025

    Federal Circuit: New Judge Needed In Patent Row After Expert Testimony Issues

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ordered a new trial on patent infringement to be held in front of a different judge in a North Carolina federal court, holding that the judge who previously oversaw a patent dispute between two biomedical companies repeatedly made statements that could call into question his appearance of fairness in the case.

  • February 11, 2025

    2nd Circuit: Former CEO’s Misdeeds Defeated Privilege Via Crime-Fraud Exception

    NEW YORK — Any attorney-client privilege claimed in certain communications between a company’s former chief executive officer and his counsel was negated by the crime-fraud exception in light of securities filing failures and allegations of sexual misconduct, a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found.

  • February 10, 2025

    Supreme Court Asked To Review Expert Disclosure Production Authority

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Appealing a New York federal judge’s order requiring him to produce expert disclosures, as well as a denial of mandamus on the matter by the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, a software developer accused of money laundering via a cryptocurrency app filed a petition for certiorari asking the U.S. Supreme Court to clarify when such disclosures may be ordered.

  • February 06, 2025

    Claimant Met Burden Of Showing She Is Disabled From Own Occupation

    SEATTLE — A Washington federal judge granted a disability claimant’s motion for judgment on the administrative record after determining that the claimant met her burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that she was disabled from performing the duties of her own occupation because her disability prevented her from sitting for more than four hours at a time.

  • February 05, 2025

    Judge Partially Grants Motion To Reopen Discovery In Asbestos Case

    OAKLAND, Calif. — Providing time limits for expert depositions and saying that there does not appear to be any resulting prejudice, a judge granted a motion to reopen discovery in a California asbestos case.

  • February 05, 2025

    Asbestos-Containing Pipe Maker Seeks To Escape Spoliation Jury Instruction

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A plaintiff and an asbestos-containing pipe defendant briefed a motion for reconsideration of a summary judgment ruling in Delaware court, with the plaintiff saying the company born “under the spectre of asbestos” cannot rely on “institutional ignorance” to explain away document destruction while the company told the court that the evidence destruction was inadvertent but that an adverse jury instruction issued in response would destroy any chance at a fair trial.

  • February 03, 2025

    Judge: Microsoft Must Comply With Constitutional Notice Rule In AI Copyright Suit

    NEW YORK — A federal court rule governing notice for constitutional questions applies to Microsoft Corp.’s “as applied” challenge to New York’s trademark dilution statute in an artificial intelligence case, a federal judge in the state said in ordering Microsoft to comply with the rule.

  • February 03, 2025

    Insureds: Insurers ‘Flouted’ Order Compelling Discovery In Defects Coverage Suit

    NEWARK, N.J. — Insureds asked a New Jersey court to dismiss their insurers’ lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying construction defects lawsuit, arguing that the insurers “have refused to meaningfully participate in the discovery process, repeatedly ignored deadlines and discovery rules, flouted this Court’s Order compelling discovery, and otherwise delayed the progression of this litigation.”

  • February 03, 2025

    Hoverboard Fire Defendants: Motion In Limine’s Fake Cites Look Like ChatGPT’s Work

    CHEYENNE, Wyo. — ChatGPT appears to have authored eight incorrect legal citations in plaintiffs’ motion in limine seeking to exclude evidence and expert testimony, the defendants told a federal judge in Wyoming in opposition to the motion in a suit in which the plaintiffs say a hoverboard exploded and set fire to their home.

  • February 03, 2025

    Delaware High Court Upholds Judgment, Discovery Ruling In Oracle Derivative Suit

    DOVER, Del. — A Delaware trial court did not err in denying Oracle Corp. shareholders’ efforts to obtain certain documents from an investigation by a special litigation committee (SLC) in a derivative suit centering on Oracle’s acquisition of another tech company, the Delaware Supreme Court held, finding that the documents were largely protected by privilege.

  • February 03, 2025

    4th Circuit Upholds $31M In Sanctions, Default Judgment For Discovery Misconduct

    RICHMOND, Va. — Citing “egregious” discovery conduct and a “blatant disregard for the judicial process” exhibited by the defendants in a bankruptcy proceeding, a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found that a bankruptcy court “exhibited extraordinary patience” and was justified in assessing discovery sanctions of more than $31 million against the defendants and in disposing of the matter via entry of default judgment.

  • January 31, 2025

    Hair Relaxer Defendants: Medical Record Redaction Not Needed, Privilege Lacking

    CHICAGO — Companies sued over allegations that their hair relaxer products contain toxic chemicals have filed a brief in the multidistrict litigation for product injury claims in Illinois federal court arguing that the plaintiffs “cannot carry their burden to justify” their request to redact their mental health history from medical records in the case because the psychotherapy-patient privilege does not apply.