A federal judge has imposed sanctions on a Brazilian businessman, rejecting his attorneys' arguments that cultural differences and a language barrier contributed to missed discovery deadlines.
Southern District Judge Jesse Furman said Bernardo Valentini and his counsel — attorneys at Louis F. Burke PC, a four-lawyer securities litigation firm in Manhattan, and cocounsel in Miami — were negligent in failing to properly search and produce documents. Furman said there's no evidence Valentini's lawyers worked with their client to respond to Citigroup's requests and the attorneys did not travel to Brazil to discuss discovery obligations with him until nearly seven months after the requests were made.
