Discovery

Non-Sequiturs: 07.08.15

* Time Warner Cable owes $229,500 for incessantly calling a woman after she demanded that they stop. Hm. Maybe this isn't the right time to launch my new "Happy Dude" scam. [Reuters] * Tom Selleck in hot water for allegedly stealing truckloads of H2O in the midst of California's drought. Claims he's just the caretaker and the authorities really need to check out Robin Masters. [LA Times] * In the wake of Judge Kopf's comments on Sen. Ted Cruz, Professor Kerr has found actual precedent involving Second Circuit Judge Guido Calabresi discussing George W. Bush. [The Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post] * Law firm tax practice rankings are here! [TaxProf Blog] * Is your website optimized to sell your firm? [Law and More] * Have you ever invoked Rule 27 of the FRCP? Do you even know what it says? [What About Clients?] * Studying for the bar exam in GIF form. [Thought Catalog] * In case you missed our recent Weed Law symposium, you can now listen to the entire presentation here. [Legal Talk Network]

Biglaw Partner And Associate Destroyed Evidence, Suborned Perjury

What Biglaw firm is in hot water for ordering the destruction of dox?

Morning Docket 05.15.15

* Lance Armstrong is feuding, again, with former teammate Floyd Landis -- this time over discovery [National Law Journal] * Remember July 2014 when we all learned that ExamSoft -- the bar examination software -- totally crapped out on test takers? Yeah, they just reached a $2.1 million settlement.  #NeverForgetBarghazi [Law360] * Rejoice haters of measles and other preventable diseases! California is moving to end "personal belief exemptions" for mandatory vaccines. [NPR] * In oral arguments for an appeal of the conviction of Jesse Litvak, a bond trader convicted of securities fraud involving government bailout funds, the Second Circuit was skeptical over the fairness of the trial. [New York Law Journal] * The FDA finally arrives in the year 2015; plans to ease restrictions on gay blood donors. [Jurist] *  Senate Judiciary Committee recommends prosecutor Robert Capers the next U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, filling Attorney General Loretta Lynch's vacancy. [Wall Street Journal] * An analysis of who the winners will be under Google's new plan to buy up patents before the trolls. [JD Supra]

Your Edge In Litigation Depends On How You Organize Your Case

Cases are won primarily by two factors 1) how smart your team is, and 2) how organized it is. You can’t really do much to control factor one, but factor two is entirely in your control.

This Pissed-Off Judge Is Really Sick Of Discovery Disputes

The judge was so annoyed with the litigants in this case that she wrote a rather sarcastic ruling.

alt.legal: My Overreaction To Potentially Sane Discovery Policies

What will the impact of "proportional" discovery be on the legal industry?

How To Sue A China Company (Part 2)

What are some of the challenges of conducting discovery against Mainland Chinese companies?

An Illustrated Guide On How To Avoid Drafting Horrible ESI Discovery

Bad discovery is how baby benchslaps are made.

The Affluenza Kid And Privilege (This Time The Evidentiary Kind)

The Affluenza controversy was messed up enough. Now the kid's lawyers are trying to use another kind of privilege to keep his diagnosis from coming up in a civil case.

Biglaw Firm Ordered To Make A Video Apologizing For Discovery Abuses

Litigators are like unruly kids, which is why this benchslap with a sanction straight out of elementary school is so appropriate.

A Life And Death Benchslap

Thankfully, despite the stakes it's a pretty funny benchslap....

Biglaw Firm Could Get Hit With Discovery-Related Sanctions

Which Biglaw firm might get hit with sanctions, and why?

Biglaw Firm Withdraws, Citing Client’s Systematic Falsification Of Evidence

The nightmare scenario is a client who misleads a lawyer into defrauding the court.

Benchslap Of The Day: Just. Produce. The Documents!

Is this benchslap of the federal government unjustified?

Morning Docket: 02.14.14

* Virginia is for lovers — gay and straight alike. Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen (E.D. Va.) just struck down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage (but stayed her ruling pending appeal). Happy Valentine’s Day! [Washington Post] * The Ninth Circuit, in an opinion by Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain, issued a major Second Amendment ruling. Is it correct, and what will happen next? Professor Eugene Volokh shares his thoughts. [Volokh Conspiracy; Volokh Conspiracy] * Which leading law firms are trying to make the Comcast/Time Warner Cable monstrosity into reality? [American Lawyer] * Did a Biglaw firm make a big-time mistake by blowing a deadline to appeal a $40 million verdict? [Law360 (sub. req.)] * Speaking of screw-ups, making them in the e-discovery realm can be costly — a lesson that California is learning the hard way, to the tune of $32 million. [ACEDS] * Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin thought he’d be acquitted; he thought wrong. [ABA Journal] * George Washington wasn’t a member of the one of the 8 magic groups — but his story still illustrates the truth of The Triple Package (affiliate link), according to Washington biographer Logan Beirne. [Fox News] * Authorities have made an arrest for the package bombing that killed a retired Tennessee lawyer and his wife. [CNN]