What’s in a name? that which we call a benchslap
By any other name would be as sweet
See what I did there? I’m trying to set the scene for a Shakespeare-laced benchslap coming out of the 11th Circuit. Penned by Judge Gerald Tjoflat — the longest serving circuit court judge still in active service — the decision spared neither party, nor the trial court. Indeed, the supplemental jurisdiction that the district court took over state law claims was found to be an abuse of discretion and the jury’s judgment was vacated. And the parties? Well, they should’ve known better.
The case is between Ameritox, Ltd. and Millennium Laboratories, Inc., competitors in the drug testing industry over unfair competition claims, and the litigation has dragged out for three years. Described as both “high-stakes” and “extraordinarily complex” litigation by the circuit court, the jury returned a $14 million verdict for Ameritox. Ultimately, however, on appeal it was found to involve complex and novel questions of state law (from nine different states) which could not support the district court’s supplemental jurisdiction. So, no money for Ameritox.
Aware it may seem harsh to Ameritox, which had been so successful at trial, the court noted:
No one forced Ameritox to introduce novel and complex legal theories. And, as other circuits have pointed out, every litigant who brings supplemental claims in court knowingly risks the dismissal of those claims.
That’s unfortunate. And Judge Tjoflat also has choice words for the waste of money accumulated on both sides of the case:
At the end of the day, the attorneys here left their clients with gargantuan legal bills and “a tale/ Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,/ Signifying nothing.” William Shakespeare, Macbeth, act 5, sc. 5.
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And… scene.