Today, Judge Baer adopted and upheld Magistrate Judge Maas’ decision not to assess a spoliation sanction in a declaratory judgment action relating to a construction contract. In an opinion issued on April 20, Judge Maas found that plaintiffs GenOn Mid-Atlantic, LLC and GenOn Chalk Point, LLC had acted at least negligently in failing to instruct FTI Consulting Inc. – a third-party that had assisted them in performing audits related to the relevant contract – to preserve relevant electronic documents. He concluded that the GenOn plaintiffs were “responsible for spoliation” but that no sanction was warranted because defendant “was not prejudiced by the spoliation.” (Our previous post on that decision is here)
Continue Reading Judge Baer Upholds Magistrate’s Denial of Spoliation Sanction for Failure to Issue Litigation Hold

Don’t expect to push back a trial date before Judge Baer. His model scheduling order states that the month the parties choose for trial will “rarely if ever be changed.” When parties to a securities class action asked to extend the discovery deadlines by 45 days, Judge Baer’s endorsement yesterday reminded them of this rule: “I will extend discovery . . . but let me caution you again that the month you chose for trial never changes.”
Continue Reading Judge Baer Reminds Litigants: “The Month You Chose For Trial Never Changes”