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Discovery — sanctions

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//February 5, 2014//

Discovery — sanctions

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//February 5, 2014//

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United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Civil

Discovery — sanctions

Discovery abuses form a mosaic that convincingly shows both a “clear record of delay or contumacious conduct,” and “willfulness, bad faith, or fault.” Moreover, the district judge was clear that her list of abuses was not exhaustive. She also emphasized her adherence to our directive that she consider the defendants’ discovery conduct as a whole, and not focus solely on “the straw that broke the camel’s back.” Thus, the district judge’s decision to grant a default judgment was warranted and not an abuse of discretion.

The district judge acknowledged that the plaintiffs’ damages theory was perhaps speculative, but adopted it anyway, both because the defendants had put forth no alternative and because she found it was their obstructionist behavior that made business records hard to come by. That was not an abuse of discretion.

Affirmed.

13-2435 Domanus et al. v. Lewicki et al.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. Flaum, J.

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