Thursday, April 7, 2011

Abusive Deposition Conduct Warrants $79,000 Discovery Sanction

Defendant's motion for discovery sanctions due to abusive deposition conduct was granted in part and the court awarded $79,167 in attorneys' fees and expenses. With respect to counsels' hourly rates the court observed: "[Defendant's] counsel is from a national law firm and is charging national rates. Plaintiff’s counsel is also from a national law firm, but Plaintiff declines to reveal information about the firm’s Denver rates. . . . I do not understand why Plaintiff’s counsel did not simply tell me what their rates are. I can only assume . . . that counsel did not disclose this information ([which] is obviously readily available) because to do so would not support their argument." With respect to hours billed, the court explained: "This is a heavily (and, at times it appears to me, bitterly) disputed case, and the number of discovery disputes with which I have had to be involved far exceed the norm in my experience. As [defendant] points out, with perhaps a third of a billion dollars in damages being claimed by Plaintiff, and in light of the battles already fought in this case, I can hardly fault [defense] counsel for meticulously preparing for every litigation event in anticipation of another fight and, of course, the significant end game. In light of these considerations, I do not view the fee petition as generally excessive."

BIAX Corporation v. NVIDIA Corporation, et. al., 1-09-cv-01257 (COD April 5, 2011, Order) (Hegarty, M.J.)

No comments: