Shah v. Politico LLC
- Wise
- 5:25-cv-05213
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Shah v. Politico, Judge Wise denied Politico’s motion to set aside a magistrate judge’s ruling refusing to stay discovery.
Politico LLC’s request to pause discovery was denied, so Judge Cousins’s order refusing that request remained in place. The opinion also indicated that at least some of Shah’s claims would continue beyond the motion-to-dismiss stage, without deciding that motion.
What happened
Vishal Shah v. Politico LLC involved Politico LLC’s request to overturn an order by Judge Cousins refusing to pause discovery.
The court reviewed the ruling under a standard that permits changes only when the order is clearly mistaken or conflicts with the law. It also briefly reviewed the pending motion to dismiss and said some claims would likely continue, but it did not decide that motion.
Judge Wise found Judge Cousins’s reasoning persuasive and fair and denied Politico’s motion. The court said it would explain its reasoning on the motion to dismiss in a later order.
The detailed version
- Shah v. Politico LLC · No. 5:25-cv-05213
- Wise
- Nov. 21, 2025
Background
Politico LLC asked the district court for relief from Judge Cousins’s order denying Politico’s request to stay, or pause, discovery. The order at issue was a nondispositive pretrial order, meaning it addressed a pretrial matter without finally resolving the claims.
Legal standard
Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 72(a), a district judge reviewing objections to a magistrate judge’s nondispositive order may modify or set aside the order only if it is clearly erroneous or contrary to law. The court explained that this requires a definite and firm conviction that a mistake was made.
Ruling
Judge Wise reviewed the hearing transcript and concluded that Judge Cousins’s order was not clearly erroneous or contrary to law. Judge Wise found Judge Cousins’s reasoning persuasive and fair. The court also took a preliminary look at the pending motion to dismiss and said that at least some claims would survive that stage, but it did not issue a ruling on the motion to dismiss. The court stated that it would develop its reasoning and issue a separate order on that motion.
Accordingly, the court denied Politico’s motion to set aside the nondispositive pretrial order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.