Messy discovery spats must be the bane of a judge’s existence. But it’s the judge’s job to mediate the misbehaving lawyers, not just call the whole thing off. Yet that’s what one district judge has decided to do! Just cancel discovery!
And it’s so wildly off-base that the FIFTH Circuit is sick and tired of his nonsense:
This is getting extreme at this point. (A district judge keeps issuing orders that do not permit discovery) https://t.co/uPH2ons3ii pic.twitter.com/TTEopMqaS7
— Raffi Melkonian (@RMFifthCircuit) May 26, 2022
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The whole opinion is here, but the money passage shown in the Tweet (citations omitted) is:
This is the third time we have been asked to consider whether a particular district court can deny discovery rights protected by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure because, in the district court’s view, that discovery is unnecessary. We have twice held no. … Today we so hold a third time.
I would use this point to pivot to a tech story and discuss the advancements that make discovery less painful and more efficient, but no one wants to hear that right now.
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The judge involved is none other than judicial bad boy Judge Lynn Hughes. And I don’t mean “bad boy” like some kind of young adult novel protagonist, I mean “bad boy” as in “gets benchslapped for racist remarks” and is described on The Robing Room (where lawyers post about judges) as “[u]nquestionably the single worst judge in the Southern District of Texas.”
Given that this is a discrimination case and Judge Hughes has a history with insensitive remarks, you might think this discovery ban is uniquely applied to punish plaintiffs alleging discrimination, but it turns out he’s got broader distastes for discovery:
Alas the panel did not elect to kick him off the case this time, which is a shame because he doesn’t seem like he’s going to learn his lesson from this.
But life tenure is still a completely awesome idea that should never be questioned, y’all!!!!
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.