Glass Egg Digital Media v. Gameloft, Inc.

Background

The court considered Defendant Gameloft SE’s motion for sanctions against Plaintiff Glass Egg Digital Media. The motion concerned Glass Egg’s motion to compel discovery responses from Gameloft SE and Glass Egg’s third-party subpoenas. Gameloft SE requested $69,839.62 for opposing the motion to compel, $127,033.75 in attorney’s fees for defending against the third-party subpoenas, and $19,216.25 for bringing the sanctions motion.

Court’s Analysis

Local Civil Rule 37-4(b)(3) requires a sanctions motion to include a declaration that itemizes with particularity the unnecessary expenses allegedly caused by the violation, identifies the claimed attorney-fee hourly rates, and justifies those rates. The court also explained that any sanctions award must be reasonable and sufficiently detailed to connect each expense to the alleged misconduct and the authority supporting the sanction.

Gameloft SE’s initial declaration listed only three lump-sum amounts. Its later declaration contained more information but still did not provide the required itemization of expenses or the claimed hourly rates and justification for those rates. Because the court could not evaluate whether the amounts were reasonable, the motion did not comply with Local Rule 37-4(b)(3).

Disposition

Judge Robert M. Illman denied Gameloft SE’s motion for sanctions without prejudice to refiling. The court directed that any refiled motion include hourly rates for attorneys and support staff, justification for those rates, and a particularized itemization of the hours spent on each task Gameloft SE contends was unnecessary because of Glass Egg’s alleged conduct. The opinion did not decide whether sanctions were ultimately warranted or whether the requested amounts were recoverable.