“The law is not a game, and . . . civil discovery is not a game of hide and seek. The decision in this case should encourage litigants to understand that it is risky business to recklessly or deliberately fail to produce documents, and perilous to disobey court orders to review and, if necessary, supplement prior productions. It is in the interests of the administration of justice to default [defendants] to send those messages.”
So said United States District Judge Mark L. Wolf in a 72-page decision in which he entered a default judgment as a sanction in a trade secret case against the defendants for what he referred to as “extreme misconduct.” Memorandum and Order on Plaintiff’s Motion for Sanctions, Red Wolf Energy Trading, LLC v. BIA Capital Mgmt., LLC, et al., C.A. No. 19-10119-MLW (D. Mass. Sept. 8, 2022).
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Recent Updates
- Virginia Senate Bill 128 Adds Health Care Professionals to Virginia’s Noncompete Restrictions
- When the Deal Closes, the Trade Secrets Don't: Enforcing Sale-of-Business Covenants Under Judicial Scrutiny
- Tennessee Enacts New Restrictions on Noncompete Agreements
- Maine Restricts Noncompetes for Health Care Practitioners
- Utah Bans Post-Employment Noncompetes for Healthcare Workers Effective May 6, 2026