Cotchett Pitre Sanctioned for Disclosing Confidential Material in Apple Case
Partner Mark Molumphy was admonished by the judge, but lead counsel Joseph Cotchett will have to ask for court permission before arguing for the plaintiffs in the case going forward.
June 17, 2019 at 02:28 PM
4 minute read
The original version of this story was published on Law.com
A federal judge has sanctioned plaintiffs attorneys at Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy for disclosing confidential information in the case against Apple over allegedly throttling older iPhones.
Friday's order by Judge Edward Davila of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose stopped short of Apple's request to remove Cotchett Pitre principals Joseph Cotchett and Mark Molumphy from the case. But the judge provided more guidance on the protective order's requirements and ordered that the plaintiffs' attorneys deduct Apple's costs from any potential attorney fees, which would exclude work related to the sanctions issue.
He also wrote that Cotchett must get court permission before arguing any more motions, noting that Molumphy, unlike Cotchett, did not quote directly from the protected material.
“The facts relating to Mr. Cotchett are different though,” he wrote. “Mr. Cotchett's actions, if not willful, display a fundamental lack of understanding of the protective order.”
Neither Cotchett nor Molumphy, both based in Burlingame, California, responded to requests for comment.
The lawsuits allege that Apple surreptitiously slowed the speeds of certain iPhones. Apple has insisted that the decreased performance speed was necessary in order to stop unexpected shutdowns.
In October, Davila granted Apple's dismissal as to some of the claims.
Plaintiffs attorneys filed a second amended complaint under seal, which Apple moved to dismiss. At a March 7 hearing, Cotchett and Molumphy both quoted from two sealed exhibits in their opposition to Apple's motion to dismiss. Those documents involve internal discussions among Apple employees about how to respond to issues relating to the problems with the iPhone batteries.
An Oct. 15 protective order required that a “party who seeks to introduce protected material at a hearing, pretrial or other proceeding, shall advise the court at the time of introduction that the information sought to be introduced is protected.”
Cotchett had insisted that he had told Apple attorney Christopher Chorba about his intention to disclose the confidential documents at the hearing. Chorba, a partner at Gibson Dunn in Los Angeles, disputed that account.
Apple asked to remove Cotchett and Molumphy as lead plaintiffs attorneys in the multidistrict litigation, citing a “blatant and very serious violation” of the protective order. Cotchett Pitre's lawyers called the motion a “manufactured controversy” and denied that they violated the protective order.
At a May 30 hearing, Davila said he was disappointed in the plaintiffs attorneys.
But, in his sanctions order, he concluded that disqualifying Cotchett and Molumphy from the case “would be too severe a sanction at this time.”
Instead, he wrote, neither could submit billing requests for work related to the sanctions issue. He also said he would deduct from any attorney fee award all of Apple's costs and fees relating to the matter.
He also drew a distinction between both plaintiffs' attorneys, giving Molumphy “the benefit of the doubt” that he did not willfully disclose confidential information.
“Mr. Cotchett signed the administrative motion to file the confidential documents under seal, indicating that he knew they were protected material,” he wrote. “At the March 7, 2019, hearing, he quoted directly from them. And at the May 30, 2019, hearing—after the conferences between the parties on this matter and full briefing on the instant motion for sanctions—he again began to read aloud from protected material.”
He said he would consider greater sanctions should either attorney violate his sanctions order.
[falcon-embed src="embed_1"]
Read More:
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All'The Most Peculiar Federal Court in the Country' Comes to Berkeley Law
Focusing an Economic Lens On the Decrease In Federal Civil Jury Trials
Trending Stories
Who Got The Work
Clark Hill members Vincent Roskovensky and Kevin B. Watson have entered appearances for Architectural Steel and Associated Products in a pending environmental lawsuit. The complaint, filed Aug. 27 in Pennsylvania Eastern District Court by Brodsky & Smith on behalf of Hung Trinh, accuses the defendant of discharging polluted stormwater from its steel facility without a permit in violation of the Clean Water Act. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Gerald J. Pappert, is 2:24-cv-04490, Trinh v. Architectural Steel And Associated Products, Inc.
Who Got The Work
Michael R. Yellin of Cole Schotz has entered an appearance for S2 d/b/a the Shoe Surgeon, Dominic Chambrone a/k/a Dominic Ciambrone and other defendants in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The case, filed July 15 in New York Southern District Court by DLA Piper on behalf of Nike, seeks to enjoin Ciambrone and the other defendants in their attempts to build an 'entire multifaceted' retail empire through their unauthorized use of Nike’s trademark rights. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald, is 1:24-cv-05307, Nike Inc. v. S2, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Sullivan & Cromwell partner Adam S. Paris has entered an appearance for Orthofix Medical in a pending securities class action arising from a proposed acquisition of SeaSpine by Orthofix. The suit, filed Sept. 6 in California Southern District Court, by Girard Sharp and the Hall Firm, contends that the offering materials and related oral communications contained untrue statements of material fact. According to the complaint, the defendants made a series of misrepresentations about Orthofix’s disclosure controls and internal controls over financial reporting and ethical compliance. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Linda Lopez, is 3:24-cv-01593, O'Hara v. Orthofix Medical Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft and Pryor Cashman have entered appearances for Diageo Americas Supply d/b/a Ciroc Distilling Co. and Sony Songs, a division of Sony Music Publishing, respectively, in a pending lawsuit. The case was filed Sept. 10 in New York Southern District Court by the Bloom Firm and IP Legal Studio on behalf of Dawn Angelique Richard. The plaintiff, who performed as a member of producer Sean 'Diddy' Combs girl group Danity Kane and later his band, Diddy - Dirty Money, claims that she was financially exploited by Combs and subjected to inhumane working conditions. Among other violations, Richard claims that Combs required group members to remain at his residences and studios, deprived them of adequate food and sleep and forced them to rehearse for 36 to 48 hours without breaks. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla, is 1:24-cv-06848, Richard v. Combs et al.
Who Got The Work
Mathilda McGee-Tubb and Kevin M. McGinty of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, as well as Jesse W. Belcher-Timme of Doherty, Wallace, Pillsbury & Murphy, have stepped in to defend Peter Pan Bus Lines in a pending consumer class action. The suit, filed Sept. 4 in Massachusetts District Court by Hackett Feinberg PC and KalielGold PLLC, accuses the defendant of charging undisclosed 'junk fees' on top of ticket prices during checkout. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Mark G. Mastroianni, is 3:24-cv-12277, Mulani et al v. Peter Pan Bus Lines, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250