http://www.lexisnexis.com/mealeys/news.aspx Headline Discovery Legal News from LexisNexis® en-us http://www.lexisnexis.com/mealeys/images/lexismealeyslogo.gif 130 29 http://www.lexisnexis.com/mealeys/news.aspx Copyright 2020 http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-5%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%201%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' WASHINGTON, D.C. - In redacted documents filed Feb. 10 in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, Amazon Web Services Inc. and Microsoft Corp. argue over Amazon's motion to supplement the administrative record (AR) in its protest of the recent awarding of the multibillion-dollar Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract to Microsoft by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), including Amazon's requests for document production and a deposition of President Donald J. Trump (Amazon Web Services Inc. v. United States, No. 1:19-cv-01796, Fed. Clms.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-5%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%202%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' ANN ARBOR, Mich. - A federal judge in Michigan on Jan. 25 granted a protective order to prohibit the deposition testimony of one of the defendants in the litigation pertaining to the lead-contaminated water crisis in Flint, Mich., and ordered a committee to finalize a plan for a pool of bellwether cases to go to trial (In re Flint Water Cases, No. 16-10444, E.D. Mich.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-5%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%203%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW YORK - Plaintiffs' premature disclosure of the deposition testimony of Johnson & Johnson's chief executive officer warrants an award of fees and costs, a New York justice held Jan. 17. But whether the plaintiffs are entitled to depose more company employees is a question for the special master, he said (Donald Minassian, et al. v. Brenntag North America, et al., No. 190399/2018, N.Y. Sup., New York Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-5%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%204%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' RICHMOND, Va. - A week after a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel denied the U.S. government's motion to rehear a dispute over whether it was appropriate for a court-appointed filter team, rather than a magistrate, to search seized files for documents responsive to a search warrant, the panel on Feb. 5 issued a mandate memorializing an Oct. 31 ruling in which it found that the filter team review violated constitutional protections and the attorney-client privilege (In re: Search Warrant Issued June 13, 2019, No. 19-1730, 4th Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 2899). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-5%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%205%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' MIAMI - A federal judge in Florida on Jan. 30 overruled a nonparty doctor's objections to a magistrate judge's Dec. 20 report and recommendation to grant State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.'s motion to enforce a subpoena, finding that personal service is not required and that the requested information is relevant (State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Vladimir Maistrenko, No. 19-MC-20850-SCOLA-TORRES, S.D. Fla., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15285). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-5%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%206%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - In a Florida bankruptcy proceeding, an interested party on Feb. 7 objected to a subpoena of bank accounts belonging to the party because the information sought relates only to an insolvent insurer's fraudulent transfer claims that had been dismissed (In re: British American Insurance Company Ltd., Chapter 15, Nos. 09-31881 and 09-35888, British American Insurance Company Ltd. v. Robert Fullerton, et al., No. 11-03118, S.D. Fla. Bkcy.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-5%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%207%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEWARK, N.J. - The broad protection of European Union (EU) citizens' data provided by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) does not serve to prevent production of personal data deemed relevant to the claims in a lawsuit, a New Jersey federal magistrate judge ruled Jan. 30, affirming a special master's order directing Mercedes-Benz USA LLC to submit certain employee data in a class action over alleged environmental impact misrepresentation (In Re Mercedes-Benz Emissions Litigation, No. 2-16-cv-00881, D. N.J., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15967). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-5%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%208%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' BOSTON - A Massachusetts judge on Jan. 16 concluded that most of the materials Facebook Inc. withheld from production to the state's attorney general (AG) in an investigation into the 2015 Cambridge Analytica data-sharing incident were not protected by privilege, ordering the social network to produce the requested materials within 90 days (Attorney General v. Facebook Inc., No. 1984CV02597-BLS1, Mass. Super. Suffolk Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-5%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%209%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' INDIANAPOLIS - An Indiana state court's objection to a discovery ruling requiring it to submit certain data about minors seeking abortions was overruled Jan. 22, with an Indiana federal judge finding that the anonymized nature of the data did not implicate any privacy concerns and, as such, did not violate a state confidentiality statute (Whole Woman's Health Alliance, et al. v. Curtis T. Hill Jr., et al., No. 1:18-cv-01904, S.D. Ind., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10364). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-5%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2010%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' SAN FRANCISCO - A trial court erred when it applied California discovery rules in a case over bedding thread counts and ruled that the lead plaintiff could obtain a list of the proposed class members from the retailer he was suing prior to class certification being granted, a split Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled Jan. 13, granting the retailer's petition for a writ of mandamus and ordering the trial court to vacate its order (In re: Williams-Sonoma, Inc., No. 19-70522, 9th Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 1046). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-5%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2011%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' CINCINNATI - Six pharmacy chains on Jan. 22 filed a petition for a writ of mandamus in the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that seeks to block the opioid multidistrict litigation court from forcing them to disclose "transaction level" prescription order data (In Re: CVS Pharmacy, Inc., No. 20-3075, 6th Cir.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-5%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2012%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' INDIANAPOLIS - The mere fact that a party engaged in an "unremarkable" investigation prior to filing suit does not automatically establish that the party relied on privileged materials in its claims thus resulting in waiver, an Indiana federal magistrate judge ruled Jan 30, denying a motion to compel by the plaintiffs in an abuse-of-process lawsuit (Ryan Gookins, et al. v. County Materials Corp., et al., No. 1:19-cv-00867, S.D. Ind., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15326). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-5%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2013%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Three weeks after a bitcoin pioneer submitted documents in a long-delayed response to multiple discovery orders, the plaintiffs in a dispute over the ownership of a bitcoin fortune filed a challenge to thousands of the defendant's privilege designations in Florida federal court on Feb. 2, accusing him of a "pattern of obfuscation" (Ira Kleiman, et al. v. Craig Wright, No. 9:18-cv-80176, S.D. Fla.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-5%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2014%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Finding a variety of failures with discovery requests and motions filed by the brother of a deceased nursing home resident and parties associated with the facility, a New York federal magistrate judge on Jan. 23 declined to bifurcate or "trifurcate" merits and class certification discovery, ordering consolidated discovery and directing that future filings be in accord with federal guidelines (Walter Chow v. SentosaCare LLC, et al., No. 1:19-cv-03541, E.D. N.Y., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20770). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-5%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2015%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A federal judge in Alaska on Jan. 24 granted an insurer's motion to bifurcate a plaintiff's underinsured/uninsured motorist (UIM) claim in a breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit from her bad faith claims at trial, ruling that the parties then must try the plaintiffs' bad faith claims before the same jury (Anastasia Tanner v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., No. 19-0253, D. Alaska, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11767). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-5%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2016%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' SAN FRANCISCO - In a Feb. 3 appellee brief, Google LLC tells the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that a trial court properly dismissed claims alleging breach of contract and violation of California's unfair competition law (UCL) related to a purported overcharge scheme in its AdWords program, arguing that the lone plaintiff in the nine-year-old lawsuit lacked standing and failed to comply with federal discovery rules (Rene Cabrera v. Google LLC, No. 19-16466, 9th Cir.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-5%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2017%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - A New Mexico federal magistrate judge on Jan. 27 denied an auto insurer's motion to bifurcate and stay discovery of an insured's extracontractual claims after determining that bifurcation is not warranted because discovery related to the coverage issue and the extracontractual claims overlaps and because bifurcation is not judicially efficient (Lupe Anaya v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., No. 19-355, D. N.M., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12852). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-5%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2018%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' ANCHORAGE, Alaska - An Alaska federal judge on Jan. 22 granted an auto insurer's motion to bifurcate a bad faith claim for trial but denied the insurer's motion to bifurcate discovery on the bad faith claim after determining that the insured is entitled to conduct discovery on the bad faith claim as long as the bad faith claim remains as part of the suit (Julia Thogmartin v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., No. 19-252, D. Alaska, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11631). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-5%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2019%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' MONTGOMERY, Ala. - A plaintiff who sued a hospital for his wife's death after she jumped off the top of its parking deck is not entitled to discovery about two previous suicides at the same location, the Alabama Supreme Court held Jan. 24. The high court directed the trial court to vacate its discovery order, noting that the requested documents did not relate to the decedent's treatment (Ex parte BBH BMC, LLC, d/b/a Brookwood Baptist Medical Center, No. 1180961, Ala. Sup., 2020 Ala. LEXIS 13). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-5%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2020%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW YORK - A film editing machines company must produce models in its possession for testing, even though the plaintiff's testing of a machine purchased online showed the presence of asbestos, a New York justice held in an opinion posted Feb. 5 (Eric Slonim, et al. v Altman Stage Lighting Co., et al., No. 190339/2017, N.Y. Sup., New York Co., 2020 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 360). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-5%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2021%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW YORK - In a Jan. 15 order, a federal judge in New York ruled that singer-songwriter Edward Sheeran must produce documents relating to ticket and merchandise sales at concerts where he performed "Thinking Out Loud" (TOL) (Structured Asset Sales LLC v. Edward Sheeran, et al., No. 18-5839, S.D. N.Y., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8614). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-5%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2022%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' BATON ROUGE, La. - A Louisiana federal magistrate judge on Jan. 28 ordered an insurer to turn over reinsurance information he found to be relevant to an insured's bad faith coverage dispute over property damage sustained from Hurricane Maria (Lamar Advertising Co. v. Zurich American Insurance Co., No. 18-1060, M.D. La., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13891). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-5%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2023%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - A magistrate judge didn't err in declining to consider an untimely affidavit in an asbestos-friction case against Honeywell International Inc. or in ordering it to produce records of pre-2002 asbestos litigation it faces, a federal judge in Kentucky said Jan. 30 (Jack Papineau, et al. v. Brake Supply Company Inc., et al., No. 18-168, W.D. Ky., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15472). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-5%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2024%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' By Matthew T. McLaughlin Litigators with international practices are generally aware that Title 28 U.S.C. § 1782 can be a potent weapon when gathering documents and testimony located in the United States for use in a foreign proceeding. Section 1782, which has existed in different versions since 1855, empowers federal courts to assist in obtaining evidence for use in "a foreign or international tribunal." Prior to 2004, section 1782 was employed relatively infrequently and, when used, the evidence procured in the United States was almost always used in a traditional court-based lawsuit abroad. Before the United States Supreme Court's transformational 2004 decision in Intel Corp. v. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., 542 U.S. 241, courts consistently held that private arbitration tribunals were not "foreign tribunals" for the purpose of section 1782. While the Intel decision resolved several long-pending disputes related to this exotic statute, because the facts at issue did not involve an arbitral panel, Intel did not squarely address the private arbitration issue. Yet, in dicta, the Court opened the door for lower courts to interpret Intel as permitting the use of section 1782 for use in aid of foreign private arbitrations. Since Intel, the use of section 1782 has increased dramatically, including in the realm of international private arbitrations. Though there is still discord within the lower federal courts as to the use of section 1782 in foreign arbitrations, the discovery statute is being employed increasingly for this purpose. The reported section 1782 decisions therefore frequently concern international arbitrations. While the Supreme Court in Intel clarified some then-existing tensions, it left the lower courts with the task of sorting through other issues, including the jurisdictional reach of section 1782, both in terms of what entities were subject to section 1782 and how much they could be compelled to produce. Significantly, the Second Circuit recently published a decision clarifying two contested points left unanswered by Intel, questions that arise more often now that, post-Intel, section 1782 is used more often, including in international arbitrations. In In re del Valle Ruiz, 939 F.3d 520 (2d Cir. 2019) another decision applying section 1782 for use in a foreign arbitration, the Second Circuit made two subtle but significant steps forward in the world of section 1782 jurisprudence. While both of these holdings will change how district courts view section 1782 applications, the second of the two will likely be transformative in the realm of cross-border document productions. First, the court in In re del Valle Ruiz held that the personal jurisdiction reach of section 1782 is co-extensive with the limits of constitutional due process. Thus, a person or entity is subject to the command of a section 1782 order if the court would have personal jurisdiction, whether general or specific, over the recipient of the section 1782 request. Second, and much more meaningfully, the Second Circuit, with brief analysis, made the huge leap of holding that an entity over which the court has jurisdiction locally may be required to retrieve documents from abroad to satisfy a section 1782 request. This ruling may have sweeping consequences that passed unnoticed at first glance. Suddenly, a New York entity may be required to obtain documents from a foreign affiliate for ultimate use in a remote foreign proceeding, even a foreign private arbitration. Suddenly, section 1782 has grown much more potent. Suddenly, New York institutions will take notice of Title 28 U.S.C. § 1782. http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-4%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%201%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' DALLAS - A health care provider that sued its patients' insurer to recover benefits on their behalf under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act was granted a motion to compel certain communications between the insurer and the patients' plan on Jan. 3, as a Texas federal judge held that the attorney-client privilege could not be invoked against the plaintiff, as the plan beneficiaries' assignee, for plan administration documents (Advanced Physicians S.C. v. Connecticut General Life Insurance Co., et al., No. 3:16-cv-02355, N.D. Texas). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-4%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%202%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' ST. PAUL, Minn. - Determining that some documents requested by a food services company against its pest control vendor were produced before there was a reasonable anticipation of litigation, a Minnesota federal magistrate judge on Jan. 2 deemed them not privileged in a negligence suit over post-fumigation damage to electrical equipment, granting in part the plaintiff's motion to compel compliance with discovery subpoenas (S.T. Specialty Foods Inc. v. Copesan Services Inc., et al., No. 0:19-cv-00339, D. Minn., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 255). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-4%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%203%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW YORK - A surveillance technology watchdog group sued New York City Transit (NYCT) in New York state court on Jan. 6, seeking to compel the agency to comply with a request under the state's Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) for documents related to the purported use of facial recognition technology on the city's subway system (Surveillance Technology Oversight Project v. Metropolitan Transportation Authority, et al., No. 150127/20, N.Y. Sup., New York Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-4%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%204%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW YORK - In a Dec. 11 complaint, the American Civil Liberties Union asks a New York federal court to compel U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to comply with its requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) seeking information about the agencies' use of cell site simulators in immigration enforcement activities, citing "privacy concerns" (American Civil Liberties Union v. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, et al., No. 1:19-cv-11311, S.D. N.Y.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-4%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%205%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW YORK - An emergency motion by the Securities and Exchange Commission to compel unredacted bank records from a firm accused of securities registration violations was denied Jan. 6 by a New York federal judge, who indicated, however, that review of the records will ultimately occur (Securities and Exchange Commission v. Telegram Group Inc., et al., No. 1:19-cv-09439, S.D. N.Y., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3111). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-4%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%206%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' CINCINNATI - A Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Dec. 20 denied an emergency petition for writ of mandamus filed by a client of two law firms formerly worked at by an attorney who later filed a pair of lawsuits against the client, rejecting the client's request that the panel compel a federal district court to vacate two orders it handed down and to compel the forensic imaging and search of the attorney's computers and cellular phones pursuant to a suggested protocol (In re: FCA US LLC, No. 19-1923, 6th Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 38167). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-4%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%207%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' LEXINGTON, Ky. - A Kentucky federal judge on Dec. 13 partially granted a disability claimant's motion to compel supplementary responses regarding information related to the supervision of the claimant's disability benefits investigation but denied the claimant's motion to compel the deposition of a claims analyst because the claimant failed to meet the court's scheduling deadline for deposition requests (Jennifer Lee Smith v. Hartford Life & Accident Insurance Co., No. 19-61, E.D. Ky., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 215084). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-4%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%208%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' MIAMI - A Florida appeals court on Dec. 11 denied a motion by a pelvic mesh manufacturer to appeal a lower court's denial of its motion to dismiss a discovery action filed by a Medicare recovery company (American Medical Systems, LLC v. MSP Recovery Claims, Series LLC, Fla. App., 3rd Dist., 2019 Fla. App. LEXIS 18412). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-4%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%209%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' CHARLESTON, S.C. - A federal judge in South Carolina on Dec. 23 ruled that the owner and operator of a merchandise trade statistics database is entitled to inspect and copy a forensic image of a former consultant's laptop computer as part of discovery in a breach of contract and trade secret misappropriation lawsuit (IHS Global Limited, et al. v. Trade Data Monitor LLC, et al., No. 18-1025, D. S.C., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 220327). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-4%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2010%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' OAKLAND, Calif. - Although a lawsuit in which the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sought a warrant compelling suspects to unlock electronic devices via biometric means raised "highly engaging issues," a California federal judge on Dec. 10 denied as moot the department's motion to reconsider an order denying the warrant for constitutional reasons in light of the government's abandonment of the original warrant, which deprived the court of jurisdiction over the matter (In re Search of a Residence in Oakland, Calif., No. 4:19-mj-70053, N.D. Calif.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-4%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2011%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' MIAMI - A federal magistrate judge in Florida on Dec. 20 recommended granting a petition to enforce a subpoena that seeks the deposition of a Miami-based business owner, finding that his testimony could be relevant to a lawsuit brought by State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. in federal court in New York against 20 defendants accused of submitting false claims for no-fault benefits because the defendants sent him large sums of money during the alleged scheme (State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Vladimir Maistrenko, No. 19-MC-20850-SCOLA-TORRES, S.D. Fla., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 221150). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-4%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2012%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW YORK - A tech company on Dec. 5 filed a petition in a New York federal court to enforce an arbitration subpoena issued to Google LLC seeking records related to an underlying arbitration dispute in which the company seeks damages from an India-based company it claims concealed the theft of its data (Consumer Software International, Inc. v. Google, LLC, No. 19-11164, S.D. N.Y.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-4%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2013%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' Handwritten Documents Won't http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-4%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2014%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' HARRISBURG, Pa. - In rulings issued Jan. 8 and 9, a Pennsylvania federal magistrate judge denied discovery requests by a class of travel stop operations managers (OMs) in a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime lawsuit, finding requests for personnel files and text messages to be too broad, burdensome and fraught with privacy concerns (Kristopher Lawson, et al. v. Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores Inc., No. 1:17-cv-01266, M.D. Pa., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3352). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-4%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2015%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' OKLAHOMA CITY - An Oklahoma federal judge on Dec. 6 denied a disability claimant's motion to conduct discovery outside of the administrative record after determining that the claimant failed to carry his burden of proving that the disability insurer's conflict of interest as both claims administrator and claims payer warrants the requested discovery (John Williamson v. Unum Life Insurance Company of America, No. 19-481, W.D. Okla., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 210631). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-4%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2016%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEWARK, N.J. - Addressing one of the existing discovery disputes in a class action over alleged environmental impact misrepresentation by Mercedes-Benz USA LLC, a New Jersey federal special master on Jan. 9 declined to require the automaker to use technology assisted review (TAR) in searching electronically stored information (ESI) for documents responsive to the plaintiffs' discovery requests (In Re Mercedes-Benz Emissions Litigation, No. 2-16-cv-00881, D. N.J., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3781). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-4%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2017%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' WILMINGTON, Del. - A Delaware state court judge on Dec. 18 issued a partial bench ruling in which he stayed discovery in a lawsuit brought by the Chemours Co., a spinoff company of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., which contends that DowDuPont seeks to "avoid accountability for environmental costs through a campaign of transactional engineering" related to litigation brought against it for injuries allegedly caused by exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), also called C8. Vice Chancellor Sam Glasscock III did not elaborate on the reason for his decision (The Chemours Company v. DowDuPont Inc., No. 2019-0351, Del. Chanc.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-4%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2018%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' SAN FRANCISCO - Plaintiffs in the multidistrict litigation related to Roundup Products Liability on Dec. 11 moved in California federal court seeking to file under seal medical information related to their diagnoses of cancer, which they argue was caused by exposure to glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup (In re: Roundup Products Liability Litigation [Hernandez v. Monsanto Co.], MDL No. 2741, No. 17-07364, N.D. Calif.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-4%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2019%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' ALBANY, N.Y. - A federal judge in New York on Jan. 2 ordered jurisdictional discovery in a consolidated groundwater lawsuit related to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) contamination, ruling that although the district court lacked general or alter-ego jurisdiction, Saint-Gobain Corp. may be subject to personal jurisdiction (In re: Hoosick Falls PFOA Cases, No. 19-220, N.D. N.Y.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-4%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2020%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' HONOLULU - There is no conflict of interest where attorneys who helped plaintiffs settle asbestos claims against Cleaver-Brooks Inc. now represent those same plaintiffs in an action accusing the company of fraudulently concealing evidence during discovery, a federal judge in Hawaii said Dec. 19 in denying a motion to disqualify (Terry N. Agena, et al. v. Cleaver-Brooks Inc., et al., No. 19-89, D. Hawaii, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 221235). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-4%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2021%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' CHARLOTTE, N.C. - A North Carolina state business court judge on Dec. 6 partially granted a motion to compel the depositions of an insured's top company officials after determining that the information sought by the insurers from the officials is relevant to the environmental contamination coverage dispute (Duke Energy Carolinas LLC, et al., v. AG Insurance SA, et al., No. 17-5594, N.C. Business, 2019 NCBC LEXIS 103). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-4%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2022%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Plaintiffs in the litigation pertaining to the lead-contaminated water crisis in Flint, Mich., on Dec. 30 filed a brief in Michigan federal court contending that the district court should deny a motion filed by defendants who seek additional time for their own depositions and a reduction in time allotted for the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs contend that the defendants cite no evidence in support of their motion (In re Flint Water Cases, No. 16-10444, E.D. Mich.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-4%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2023%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW YORK - If a company doesn't have responsive documents in an asbestos case, it must more fully explain why, but nothing suggests that its current answers are willful or made in bad faith, a New York justice held in declining to strike the company's answer on Nov. 21 (Russell Leavitt, et al. v. A.O. Smith Water Products, et al., No. 190240/2017, N.Y. Sup., New York Co., 2019 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 6218). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-4%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2024%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' SAN FRANCISCO - Asbestos plaintiffs noticed a deposition, only to cancel it the day before its scheduled date without adequate explanation, a company told a California federal judge in seeking sanctions on Dec. 26 (In re Toy Asbestos Litigation, No. 19-325, N.D. Calif.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-4%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2025%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' WASHINGTON, D.C. - A motion for sanctions and contempt filed by the foreign owners of two Republic of Kazakhstan companies whose rights to explore and develop oil and gas fields in Kazakhstan was canceled "is frivolous and filed in bad faith solely for the purpose of harassment," Kazakhstan argues in opposition filed Dec. 16 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Anatolie Stati, et al. v. Republic of Kazakhstan, No. 14-1638, D. D.C.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-3%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%201%20(2019)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' PHILADELPHIA - A Pennsylvania federal magistrate judge on Dec. 2 mostly granted a motion by Aetna Inc. to compel a neonatal health services provider to provide discovery of a electronically stored information (ESI) from broader search terms and a larger roster of custodians, deeming most of the information sought relevant and proportionate to the fraud claims against the company (Aetna Inc., et al. v. Mednax Inc., et al., No. 2:18-cv-02217, E.D. Pa., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 206984). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-3%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%202%20(2019)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' PHILADELPHIA - A motion to compel appears to be an attempt to smuggle in follow-up interrogatories, but a second company's responses are a "non-sequitur" and must be clarified, a federal magistrate judge in Pennsylvania said in Nov. 21 asbestos litigation rulings (In re: Asbestos Products Liability Litigation, Robert J. Kraus, et al. v. Alcatel-Lucent, et al., No. 18-2119, E.D. Pa., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 200883). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-3%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%203%20(2019)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Automobile friction parts defendant Honeywell International Inc. on Nov. 20 asked a federal judge to reconsider his Nov. 18 ruling requiring it to produce all documents relating to asbestos litigation filed against the company before 2002 (Jack Papineau, et al. v. Brake Supply Company Inc., et al., No. 18-168, W.D. Ky.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-3%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%204%20(2019)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' TACOMA, Wash. - A federal judge in Washington on Nov. 20 denied a motion to compel production of certain documents filed by plaintiffs in a consumer class action lawsuit against two insurers and a company that provides them with vehicle valuations for paying total-loss vehicle claims, ruling that the information sought by the plaintiffs is irrelevant or "of only marginal relevance" to their claims (Cameron Lundquist, et al. v. First National Insurance Company of America, et al., No. 18-5301, W.D. Wash., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 201550). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-3%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%205%20(2019)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' BOSTON - A Massachusetts federal magistrate judge on Nov 8 denied an insurer's motion to compel production of documents from reinsurers over allocation and billing of a 2009 settlement with an insured because "the relevance of the materials sought is too speculative" (Certain London Market Company Reinsurers v. Lamorak Insurance Co., No. 18-10534, D. Mass.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-3%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%206%20(2019)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' SAN FRANCISCO - Denying a motion for partial summary judgment by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), a California federal judge on Nov. 18 found that the Federal Bureau of Investigation did not meet its burden to invoke a "Glomar response" to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in which the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation (ACLUF) sought production of documents and information related to the bureau's social media surveillance techniques (American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, et al. v. U.S. Department of Justice, et al., No. 3:19-cv-00290, N.D. Calif., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 199607). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-3%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%207%20(2019)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - In a Nov. 4 reply brief, a newspaper tells a South Dakota federal court that it is entitled to a new trial in a case remanded from the U.S. Supreme Court because the high court's ruling against it changed the rules for the application of an exemption that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) invoked when it withheld information the newspaper requested under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (Argus Leader Media v. U.S. Department of Agriculture, No. 4:11-cv-04121, D. S.D.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-3%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%208%20(2019)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' CINCINNATI - An Ohio federal magistrate judge on Dec. 2 found that compensation documents requested by a neurosurgeon from the consultants and accountants of companies he is suing for employment discrimination are not protected by attorney-client privilege, mostly granting his motion to compel and denying the defendants' motions to quash (Set Shahbabian M.D. v. TriHealth Inc., et al., No. 1:18-cv-00790, S.D. Ohio, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 206939). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-3%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%209%20(2019)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Three months after a Florida federal magistrate judge found that the defendant in a multibillion-dollar bitcoin ownership dispute had engaged in sanctionable discovery conduct, the plaintiffs on Nov. 20 submitted a motion for $658,581 in expenses and attorney fees that they claim to have incurred in conjunction with the discovery matters at issue (Ira Kleiman, et al. v. Craig Wright, No. 9:18-cv-80176, S.D. Fla.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-3%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2010%20(2019)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' TACOMA, Wash. - Despite previous warnings about the insufficiency of discovery responses, an automotive parts retailer appears to have made little effort to identify responsive information, a federal judge in a Washington state asbestos action said Nov. 5 in imposing sanctions (Eric Klopman-Baerselman, et al. v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp., et al., No. 18-5536, W.D. Wash., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 192131). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-3%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2011%20(2019)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' CHICAGO - Rule 37 sanctions are not warranted in a breach of contract and trade secret misappropriation lawsuit against a former customer of a stored energy solutions provider that is alleged to have breached the terms of a contract between the parties by using the provider's trade secrets in marketing its product line without the provider's permission and without paying the necessary royalties for the usage, the provider argues in a Nov. 14 opposition brief filed in Illinois federal court (LiiON LLC v. Vertiv Group Corp., et al., No. 18-6133, N.D. Ill.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-3%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2012%20(2019)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' MIAMI - A company involved in the bitcoin industry on Nov. 26 filed its opposition to a dismissal motion brought by two of the 12 defendants it alleges conspired to dominate the cryptocurrency market, telling a Florida federal court that jurisdictional discovery should be considered to counter the foreign defendants' argument that the court lacks personal jurisdiction over them (United American Corp. v. Bitmain Inc., et al., No. 1:18-cv-25106, S.D. Fla.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-3%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2013%20(2019)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW YORK - A New York justice in an opinion posted Dec. 3 found that the state lacked jurisdiction over an Illinois woman's asbestos-talc case, but said the allegations warrant further jurisdictional discovery (Karlene Holleman v. Avon Products Inc., et al., No. 190077/2018, N.Y. Sup., New York Co., 2019 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 6320). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-3%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2014%20(2019)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' SAN FRANCISCO - A California federal magistrate judge delivered a mixed ruling for Facebook Inc. in a Nov. 7 discovery order, sustaining the social network's objection to disclosing its source code to one of the proposed expert witnesses for a putative class suing it over scraping certain data from Android mobile devices, while finding that there was no risk of harm in disclosure to a second witness (Lawrence Olin, et al. v. Facebook Inc., No. 3:18-cv-01881, N.D. Calif.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-3%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2015%20(2019)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' OAKLAND, Calif. - A California federal judge on Nov. 25 denied a disability claimant's request to conduct discovery after determining that the claimant failed to prove that additional evidence is necessary to conduct an adequate de novo review (Natalya Vigdorchik v. Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston, et al., No. 19-3891, N.D. Calif., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 204512). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-3%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2016%20(2019)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' SALT LAKE CITY - A health insurer cannot avoid discovery in a case alleging that its improperly denied coverage for mental health and substance abuse treatment simply because there is a pending summary judgment motion, a federal magistrate judge held Nov. 21 (Robert L., et al. v. Cigna Health & Life Insurance Co., et al., No. 18-976, D. Utah, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 202914). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-3%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2017%20(2019)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' TRENTON, N.J. - Over the objections of an insurer, a New Jersey federal bankruptcy judge on Nov. 12 allowed seriously ill asbestos disease sufferers to sidestep the automatic stay in the Chapter 11 case of Duro Dyne National Corp. so they can be deposed before they die (In re: Duro Dyne National Corp., et al., No. 18-27963, D. N.J. Bkcy.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-3%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2018%20(2019)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' DETROIT - A federal judge in Michigan on Nov. 7 partially granted and partially denied a motion for a protective order sought by three former employees of the city of Flint in the litigation pertaining to the city's lead-contaminated water crisis, ruling that discovery in the case will proceed and the defendants may not assert their Fifth Amendment rights in advance. The judge granted the defendants' request to limit attendance at the deposition and to temporarily seal the defendants' written discovery and depositions (In re Flint Water Cases, No. 16-10444, E.D. Mich.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-3%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2019%20(2019)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' HOUSTON - A trial court abused its discretion in refusing to abate discovery on an insured's statutory extracontractual claims against an auto insurer because there has been no finding that the auto insurer is contractually obligated to pay underinsured motorist benefits to the insured, the First District Texas Court of Appeals said Nov. 5 (In re: Colonial County Mutual Insurance Co., No. 01-19-00391, Texas App., 1st Dist., 2019 Tex. App. LEXIS 9649). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-3%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2020%20(2019)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' AKRON, Ohio - A federal judge in Ohio on Nov. 21 ruled that a company that develops self-inflating tire technology is required to supply a "closed" response to an interrogatory filed by defendants in a patent inventorship and trade secret misappropriation lawsuit describing in sufficient detail what trade secrets were alleged orally disclosed to the defendants in two 2009 meetings set up to discuss the parties' potential partnership in the commercialization of the plaintiff's technology (CODA Development s.r.o., et al. v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, et al., No. 15-1572, N.D. Ohio, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 202114). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=17-3%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Disc.%2021%20(2019)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' SEATTLE - Discovery must be reopened after an asbestos plaintiff died just days before its close and months after experts were disclosed, a federal judge in Washington said Oct. 28 (William R. Clayton, et al. v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp., et al., No. 18-748, W.D. Wash., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 192150).