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Keywords

lawsuitdefendantattorneydepositiondiscoveryappealbad faith

lawsuitplaintiffdefendantattorneydepositiondiscovery

Related Cases

Reed v. Iowa Marine and Repair Corp., 16 F.3d 82, 28 Fed.R.Serv.3d 415

Facts

The dispute arose from a personal injury lawsuit filed by Shelby Reed, represented by attorney Richard H. Barker. Reed had previously concealed significant medical history and prior lawsuits from Barker, which came to light during a deposition. Despite Barker's agreement to supplement interrogatory responses after the deposition, he did not do so until months later, believing that the defendant was already aware of the relevant information. The district court imposed sanctions on Barker for this delay, citing bad faith.

The instant dispute arises out of a personal injury lawsuit filed by Barker for the plaintiff Shelby Reed. The case was referred to Barker by Ron Menville, an out-of-town attorney. Barker filed the complaint and routinely handled interrogatories propounded by the defendant.

Issue

Whether the district court's imposition of sanctions against attorney Richard H. Barker for failing to timely supplement interrogatory responses was warranted.

Rule

Under Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(e)(2), a party has a duty to supplement discovery responses if they obtain information indicating that a prior response was incorrect or no longer true. The court also noted that sanctions must be exercised with restraint and discretion.

Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(e)(2) requires counsel to supplement seasonably any discovery response 'if the party obtains information upon the basis of which (A) the party knows that the response was incorrect when made, or (B) the party knows that the response though correct when made is no longer true and the circumstances are such that a failure to amend the response is in substance a knowing concealment.'

Analysis

The Court of Appeals determined that the district court abused its discretion in imposing sanctions, as there was no evidence that Barker was aware of any inaccuracies in Reed's responses prior to the deposition. The court emphasized that both Barker and the defense counsel were aware of the relevant information, and thus, there was no prejudice or surprise to the defendant. The court concluded that Barker's reliance on Reed's explanations and the information already known to the defense did not constitute bad faith.

The record contains no support for any suggestion that Barker became aware of Reed's 'inaccuracies' prior to Reed's admissions during his deposition. Thereafter Barker obviously knew that the original interrogatories were inaccurate, but so did defense counsel who actually knew that before, at least in major part.

Conclusion

The Court of Appeals reversed the district court's judgment imposing sanctions on Barker, finding that the sanctions were not justified under the circumstances.

The judgment of the district court is REVERSED.

Who won?

Richard H. Barker IV, Esq. prevailed in the appeal as the Court of Appeals found that the sanctions imposed by the district court were unwarranted.

Finding an abuse of discretion, we reverse.

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