Category Archives: Practice Tips

Does Fed. R. Civ. P. 11 Require Attorneys To Interrogate Declarants On Whether They Used AI To Draft Their Declarations?

Posted on January 15, 2025 by Steven Callahan

A Stanford professor has fessed up to drafting expert declaration with AI and including fake citations in it. “The Court suggests that an ‘inquiry reasonable under the circumstances,’ Fed. R. Civ. P. 11(b), may now require attorneys to ask their … Continue reading →

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On Improper Redactions

Posted on January 9, 2025 by Steven Callahan

Judge Chhabria, who suffers no fools, caught Meta/Facebook trying to do some improper redactions (“preposterous” redactions at that), issues warning (including to counsel) that Meta may be on the road to getting sanctioned like the last time around when he … Continue reading →

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Should You Communicate With Your Opponent’s Employees Without Your Opposing Counsel’s Permission? Likely Not.

Posted on April 16, 2020 by Steven Callahan

I know it’s technically allowed in some instances but I’ve never seen a situation where contacting your opponent’s employees directly (as opposed to, e.g., seeking their depositions) did any good. So I avoid it. The district court (S.D.N.Y.) recently issued … Continue reading →

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E-Mail From Court to Court Coordinator, Instead of Signed Written Order, Is Sufficient to Trigger “Waiver Through Delay”

Posted on April 16, 2020 by Steven Callahan

Things in Texas state court are a bit different from federal court. Take the Fifth District Court of Appeals’ decision In re Yamaha Golf-Car Company (available here). In the case, the trial court e-mailed her court administrator stating that the … Continue reading →

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Always Local Counsel Up

Posted on February 29, 2020 by Steven Callahan

If you file a Complaint in a court you’re not admitted in, you’re risking an Order to Show Cause why the Complaint shouldn’t be considered a nullity. Motto of story: retain local counsel to file the Complaint, then get yourself … Continue reading →

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Check Your Junk Mail

Posted on August 4, 2019 by Steven Callahan

A lot of things in the practice of law are fixable. Miss responding to requests for production or interrogatories by a couple of days? Not good, but in the end, probably no big deal. But miss filing a notice of … Continue reading →

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Client: “The Defendants Owe Me a Bunch of Money. Let’s File Suit and Freeze Their Assets” Attorney: “That’s Not the Way It Typically Works”

Posted on July 21, 2019 by Steven Callahan

On April 12, 2019, the Fifth District Court of Appeals issued its decision in RWI Construction v. Comerica Bank (available here). The trial court granted Comerica Bank’s request for a temporary injunction enjoining defendants from dissipating certain funds that had … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit Reminds Litigants: Where A Witness Is Available, The Witness Must Testify At Trial Live (Not By Deposition)

Posted on July 21, 2019 by Steven Callahan

On January 11, 2019, the Fifth Circuit issued a decision (available here) in Swearingen v. Gillar Home Heath Care. The Fifth Circuit found that the district court abused its discretion when it permitted a key witness to testify by deposition—rather … Continue reading →

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Another Spectacular Redaction Fail

Posted on June 1, 2019 by Steven Callahan

As reported previously (see, e.g., here, here, here, and here), Paul Manafort’s lawyers did a bad job redacting a pleading in his criminal case. The pleading is available here. Starting on page 5 are numerous redactions. If you highlight the … Continue reading →

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Judge Kinkeade Denies Special Master Costs in SAP v. InvestPic

Posted on September 24, 2017 by Steven Callahan

On September 11, 2017, Judge Kinkeade entered an Order in SAP v. InvestPic (available here). The Order denied SAP’s request to include in the Court’s award of costs the costs incurred by SAP related to the appointment of the case’s … Continue reading →

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