Mente Group LLC v. Arnell Enterprises, Inc
- Virginia Demarchi
- 5:20-cv-07459
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 4
In Mente Group v. Arnell Enterprises, Judge Demarchi granted document discovery but denied Mente’s attorney-fee request without prejudice.
Mente Group received an order requiring Arnell Enterprises to produce the specified post-judgment documents. Arnell had to produce them by March 24, 2023, unless the parties agreed to another date. Mente’s request for attorney’s fees was denied without prejudice.
What happened
In Mente Group LLC v. Arnell Enterprises, Inc., Mente sought documents from Arnell after obtaining a judgment and awards of attorney’s fees and costs. Mente said the documents would help identify Arnell’s assets and collect what Arnell owed.
Arnell had produced some documents but Mente argued that the production was incomplete. Arnell opposed the motion, mainly arguing that the parties should confer further and stating that its assets consisted of a truck, horse trailer, aircraft, and bank account.
The court ordered Arnell to produce the requested documents by March 24, 2023, unless the parties agreed to another date. Judge Virginia K. Demarchi denied Mente’s request for attorney’s fees without prejudice because it was inadequately supported and the parties had not used the court’s expedited discovery procedures.
The detailed version
- Mente Group LLC v. Arnell Enterprises, Inc · No. 5:20-cv-07459
- Virginia Demarchi
- Mar. 9, 2023
Background
Mente Group LLC, which was also a counter-defendant, moved to compel Arnell Enterprises, Inc. to produce documents responding to Mente’s post-judgment requests for production. The requests sought information about Arnell’s assets and transactions involving those assets so Mente could collect a judgment and an award of attorney’s fees and costs.
The court had previously granted Mente partial summary judgment on Mente’s breach-of-contract claim, Arnell’s breach-of-contract and slander-of-title counterclaims, and several affirmative defenses. The court found that Mente was entitled to $164,147.96 in actual damages, later awarded Mente $233,627.22 in attorney’s fees and $6,127.10 in costs, and entered judgment. The opinion states that Arnell owed Mente a total of $403,902.28, excluding interest.
Mente served document requests on October 28, 2022. Mente said Arnell had produced some responsive documents but had not completed its production. The motion concerned requests for production 4–9, 12, 14, 20, 21, 23, 27, 32, 34, 40, 44, 45, 56, 60, 61, and 65. Arnell opposed the motion, arguing that Mente had not adequately conferred and asking the court to deny the motion without prejudice so the parties could confer further. Arnell stated that its assets were “a truck, a horse trailer, the aircraft which is the subject of this litigation and a bank account.”
Legal standard and analysis
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 69 allows a judgment creditor to obtain discovery from any person, including the judgment debtor, to help collect a judgment. Such discovery may be used to identify assets available to satisfy the judgment or to investigate concealed or fraudulently transferred assets.
The court found that Arnell had failed, without justification, to produce documents responsive to Mente’s requests. The court also stated that the record showed Arnell may have tried to transfer assets to avoid paying the judgment. The court found that Mente had made reasonable efforts to resolve the dispute informally before filing the motion and that Arnell had not justified its failure to meet its discovery obligations.
Ruling
Judge Virginia K. Demarchi granted Mente’s motion to compel. Arnell was ordered to produce all documents in its possession, custody, or control responsive to the specified requests by March 24, 2023, unless the parties stipulated to a different date.
The court denied Mente’s request for attorney’s fees without prejudice. The court said the request was inadequately briefed and that Mente may have incurred fees that could have been avoided because the parties did not use the court’s expedited discovery-dispute procedures. The court stated that it would consider a later fee motion, including fees from this proceeding, if Arnell failed to comply and Mente sought additional relief. The court also vacated the hearing scheduled for March 21, 2023.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.