‘Scorched Earth Discovery Tactics’ No Reason for Special Master: T-Mobile

T-Mobile opposes plaintiffs Craigville Telephone and Consolidated Telephone's Jan. 26 motion to appoint a special pretrial master to help the parties manage discovery in the fake ringtone case (see 2301270006) because the plaintiffs’ “scorched earth discovery tactics” aren't a reason to appoint one, said its memorandum of law Wednesday (docket 1:19-cv-07190) in U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois in Chicago. Appointing a special master “is appropriate only if there exists an exceptional condition that cannot be effectively or timely addressed” by the court without outside help, said T-Mobile. The plaintiffs identify several past or pending discovery disputes, and some potential future disputes the court may need to address, and argue a special master is appropriate because the court’s docket is overburdened, it said. But that showing “is insufficient to warrant appointment of a general discovery master,” it said. The plaintiffs ask the court to infer that past and possible future discovery disputes “are somehow extraordinary” and that T-Mobile has been “intractable” and is withholding relevant documents, the carrier said. “This narrative is refuted by the record,” it said. “Indeed, nearly a year ago this Court (rightly) questioned why plaintiffs are overcomplicating discovery. Nothing has changed.” Docket congestion alone “is not a basis for a special master,” said T-Mobile. “But even if that were a factor in this case, the discovery motions filed to date have been resolved by the Court.” The discovery disputes, and any “concomitant delay,” have largely been driven by the plaintiffs’ “insistence on overcomplicating discovery and focusing on issues irrelevant to their claims and disproportionate to the needs of the case,” it said.