Civil Procedure Keyed to Marcus
Cine Forty-Second Street Theatre Corp. v. Allied Artists Pictures Corp
Facts
Appellee alleges that Appellants, who owned neighboring theatres, attempted to prevent the opening of its theatre. When this proved to be unsuccessful, Appellee alleged that Appellants entered into a conspiracy with certain motion picture distributors to eliminate its access to quality films. Appellee claimed $3,000,000 in treble damages under antitrust laws and sought an injunction against the Appellants’ alleged antitrust practices. Appellants then served Appellee with consolidated interrogatories. Appellee secured Appellants’ consent to defer discovery on a crucial issue of damages until it could retain an expert to review Appellants’ box office receipts. Appellee filed a set of answers, which were bare and ambiguous. Appellee filed supplemental answers, which failed to obey two subsequent orders from the magistrate, compelling discovery. Magistrate Gershon found the Appellee’s disobedience to be willful and recommended that $500 in costs be assessed against it. Months later, the Appellee still had not acquired an expert and the magistrate ordered the Appellee to file an answer. When Appellee filed answers, both were deficient. The magistrate reserved on the imposition of sanctions. The Appellants moved for dismissal of the complaint on grounds that Appellee’s failure to obey the order requiring answers on the issue of damages. The Magistrate Gershon found that Appellee had no basis for assuming that the answers were not due on the dates set in the orders. Magistrate Gershon also concluded that Appellee’s noncompliance was willful. The magistrate’s decision was submitted to the district court for approval. The district court judge then found that it might have been “possible that Appellee’s counsel could have thought in good faith that the answers were not due.” The court stated that it lacked the power to find willfulness to impose extreme sanctions and only assessed the costs in the amount of $1,000.
Only StudyBuddy Pro offers the complete Case Brief Anatomy*
Access the most important case brief elements for optimal case understanding.
*Case Brief Anatomy includes: Brief Prologue, Complete Case Brief, Brief Epilogue
- The Brief Prologue provides necessary case brief introductory information and includes:
Topic:
Identifies the topic of law and where this case fits within your course outline.Parties:
Identifies the cast of characters involved in the case.Procedural Posture & History:
Shares the case history with how lower courts have ruled on the matter.Case Key Terms, Acts, Doctrines, etc.:
A case specific Legal Term Dictionary.Case Doctrines, Acts, Statutes, Amendments and Treatises:
Identifies and Defines Legal Authority used in this case.
- The Case Brief is the complete case summarized and authored in the traditional Law School I.R.A.C. format. The Pro case brief includes:
Brief Facts:
A Synopsis of the Facts of the case.Rule of Law:
Identifies the Legal Principle the Court used in deciding the case.Facts:
What are the factual circumstances that gave rise to the civil or criminal case? What is the relationship of the Parties that are involved in the case.Issue(s):
Lists the Questions of Law that are raised by the Facts of the case.Holding:
Shares the Court's answer to the legal questions raised in the issue.Concurring / Dissenting Opinions:
Includes valuable concurring or dissenting opinions and their key points.Reasoning and Analysis:
Identifies the chain of argument(s) which led the judges to rule as they did.
- The Brief Prologue closes the case brief with important forward-looking discussion and includes:
Policy:
Identifies the Policy if any that has been established by the case.Court Direction:
Shares where the Court went from here for this case.