Fla. AG's ‘Overly Broad’ Discovery Requests Prompt Smartbiz to Seek Stay

The “unique circumstances” of Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody’s (R) robocall complaint against Smartbiz Telecom (SBT) (see 2301230054) warrant a discovery stay in the case, said SBT’s motion Friday (docket 1:22-cv-23945) in U.S. District Court for Southern Florida in Miami. The discovery requests served on SBT by Moody’s office “are overly broad and unduly burdensome, particularly in light of the allegations in SBT’s pending motion to dismiss,” it said. The case “has a unique component” in that the Florida AG “had the benefit of pre-trial discovery through investigative subpoenas,” it said. Despite obtaining the records for more than 255 “tracebacks” accounting for more than 3 million calls, the AG now demands four years of call records for 22 upstream providers, for any call to any number anywhere in the U.S., it said. “This is an unreasonable fishing expedition,” it said. It also exceeds the statutory authority of the AG to bring this case as parens patriae, the government protector, of the residents of Florida only, it said.