Parties Agreed to Settlement Where Neither Plaintiff Nor His Attorneys Liable for Discovery Sanctions, Mooting the Appeal.
Ya know, sometimes you should simply throw in the towel once a dispute has been resolved, aiding the appellate court in saving some resources so that they can dismiss an appeal without the need for an opinion, published or unpublished.
Perez v. Back Flip Software, Inc., Case No. H038426 (6th Dist. June 24, 2014) (unpublished) involved just this sort of situation.
Both sides in a case filed dueling motions to compel, with the lower court sanctioning both sides (including attorneys for plaintiff) to the tune of $5,320 in discovery sanctions of a monetary nature. One side appealed but had the appeal dismissed after failing to file an appellant’s opening brief. Then, a settlement agreement was reached between the parties by which the remaining side and his attorneys were absolved from liability for the sanctions award. The remaining side’s appeal was dismissed based on the settlement.
However, the attorneys persisted in the appeal, but the appellate court dismissed their appeal. The reason is pretty simple—the settlement agreement resolved the sanctions exposure with respect to the attorneys, so the appeal was moot.