Cases: Discovery

Lemon Law: Appellate Court Affirms $344,600 Fee Award, Adds Another $57,587 For Discovery Referee Fees, And Remands For More Postjudgment Fees

Cases: Consumer Statutes, Cases: Discovery, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees

Fourth District, Division 3 Affirms and Augments Fee Awards, After Also Determining that Defense Tactics Required Terminating Sanctions For Bad Faith Discovery Abuses.      Here is another wild one, dictated by the unusual set of facts at play. It is also a modern day parable reminding all litigators that they need to avoid “hiding the […]

Federal Discovery In Post-Trial Fee Proceedings: San Diego Federal Magistrate Rules Discovery Must Be Discrete and Limited in Nature

Cases: Discovery

Magistrate Also Rules that Post-Trial Expert Fee Declarations Are Not Subject to Pre-Trial Expert Report Disclosure Requirements.      This next post discusses a topic that we have seen very few decisions on: the scope of federal discovery in post-trial fee proceedings, which are usually based on affidavits or declarations submitted by the attorneys requesting fees

Costs Memorandum Following Voluntary Dismissal: Court Of Appeal Determines No Proposed Judgment Needs To Be Additionally Filed

Cases: Costs, Cases: Discovery

First District, Division 3 Disagrees With Weil & Brown Treatise Commentary.      After plaintiff voluntarily dismissed her action, two defendants timely filed cost memoranda, but did not submit proposed judgments in addition to the memoranda. Plaintiff argued that the failure to submit these extra proposed judgments barred recovery of costs based primarily on a commentary

E-Discovery: Outside Law Firm and One Of Its Partners Stung By Fees And Expenses For Not Producing Native Formatted Database

Cases: Discovery

U.S. Magistrate Finds No Substantial Justification For Not Producing Materials As Called For in Defense Discovery Requests.      In our post of July 30, 2008, we reported on the Qualcomm decision, where substantial discovery sanctions were imposed upon attorneys for e-discovery disputes that were not discovered until during the course of trial. The next case

Appeal Sanctions: Attorney Losing Discovery Sanctions Is Also Hit With Appellate Sanctions Of $23,343,75

Cases: Appeal Sanctions, Cases: Discovery

Second District, Division 8 Gives a “Double Whammy.”      In line with suggestions we have made in prior posts, appellate practice in California is a specialty. Do not get involved and do not lightly appeal abuse of discretion rulings unless you consult an appellate specialist or have practiced before the California appellate courts. The next

Discovery Sanctions: Court Of Appeal Sustains $29,180 Discovery Sanctions Fee Award

Cases: Allocation, Cases: Discovery, Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

Fourth District, Division 2 Finds Winning Litigant Properly Allocated Fees.      In Bohl v. Pryke, Case No. E045405 (4th Dist., Div. 2 Apr. 1, 2009) (unpublished), a defendant in a “reporter’s shield law” case refused to reveal sources. However, he also apparently refused to answer legitimate discovery, drawing the lower court’s ire. The trial court

Terminating Sanctions And Substantial Default Judgment Reversed Because Of Failure To Show Willfulness

Cases: Discovery, Cases: POOF!, Cases: Sanctions

Sixth District Vacates $730,466.10 Default Judgment and Reinstates Defendant’s Answer.      The next case is a good example of the POOF! principle. Plaintiff obtained a $730,466.10 default judgment against defendant, set up by the trial court’s grant of terminating sanctions for failure to respond to discovery requests. The only problem is that the record did

Sanctions: Court of Appeal Vacates Discovery Sanctions Against Defendant With Respect To Form Interrogatory Responses

Cases: Discovery, Cases: Sanctions

Second District, Division 3 Calls Into Question Whether Defense Needs to Answer Some Personal Injury Questions in Many Cases.      Discovery is the bane of most litigators’ existence. It is freely allowed (subject to certain limitations)—vacillating from tedious and time consuming (at one pole) to burdensome and extremely expensive (at the other side of the

Discovery Sanctions: $6,000 In Discovery Sanctions Affirmed Against Alter Ego Defendant For Failing To Respond To Written Discovery

Cases: Discovery, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees, Cases: Sanctions

Second District, Division Two Discusses Aggregation Appealability Rule and Litigant’s Discovery Obligations.      The next case we discuss has an interesting discussion of the aggregation appealability rule (sanctions order must exceed $5,000) and a litigant’s discovery obligations (even an alter ego defendant must provide discovery information of which he is aware, even if the defendant

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