Song v. Drenberg
- Lucy Koh
- 5:18-cv-06283
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 3
In Song v. Drenberg, Judge Demarchi awarded Drenberg $5,766.25 in discovery sanctions against Song and his counsel for violating court orders.
James K. Song and his counsel were jointly required to pay Aaron Drenberg $5,766.25 in attorneys’ fees and costs by November 17, 2021.
What happened
In Song v. Drenberg, the court had previously found that James K. Song and his counsel failed to comply with court orders concerning Aaron Drenberg’s first requests for documents. The court limited the sanctions to reasonable fees and costs connected to Drenberg’s successful efforts to compel responses.
The court awarded Drenberg $5,715 in attorneys’ fees and $51.25 in costs. Song and his counsel were jointly responsible for paying the total of $5,766.25 to Drenberg by November 17, 2021. The court declined to award expenses for activities it found outside the sanctions order or not caused by the misconduct.
Magistrate Judge Virginia K. Demarchi issued the order on October 18, 2021.
The detailed version
- Song v. Drenberg · No. 5:18-cv-06283
- Lucy Koh
- Oct. 18, 2021
Background
The court had earlier found sanctions warranted under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(b)(2) because plaintiff James K. Song and his counsel failed to comply with prior orders concerning defendant Aaron Drenberg’s first set of requests for production of documents. The court later clarified that the sanctions covered only Drenberg’s reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs for preparing motions to compel concerning those requests and the matters on which Drenberg prevailed.
Drenberg’s counsel submitted an amended declaration supporting the request for fees and costs. Song and his counsel opposed the request. The court then held a hearing on the reasonable amount of the award.
Court’s Analysis
Rule 37(b)(2) requires a causal connection between the misconduct and the opposing party’s fees. The court applied a “but-for” standard, meaning Drenberg could recover only expenses he would not have incurred but for the misconduct. The court explained that it could use judgment in evaluating expenses and did not need to examine every time entry individually.
After reviewing the amended declaration, the court found that only certain expense categories were sufficiently connected to the relevant motions to compel. It awarded $5,715 in attorneys’ fees for drafting joint discovery-dispute letters and conducting legal research related to those letters. It also awarded $51.25 in costs for delivering courtesy copies to the court.
The court declined to require reimbursement for counsel’s communications with opposing counsel and Drenberg, review of the plaintiffs’ written responses, or review of documents produced in response to the requests. The court found those activities were outside the scope of the sanctions order or did not satisfy Rule 37(b)(2)’s causal-connection requirement.
Disposition
The court awarded sanctions totaling $5,766.25 to Drenberg. Song and his counsel were jointly responsible for payment, which was due to Drenberg no later than November 17, 2021. Magistrate Judge Virginia K. Demarchi entered the order.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.