Friday, July 02, 2004

Immediate appeal allowed from ancillary protective order entered at request of non-party

In Nicholas v. Wyndham International, Inc., the most interesting issue was appellate jurisdiction. The Fourth Circuit, in an opinion by Judge Shedd, concluded that it had jurisdiction for an appeal of a protective order granted in connection with non-party discover sought in Virginia in connection with a federal case pending in the Virgin Islands. The loser on the protective order was the defendant in the Virgin Islands case, and was seeking discovery from a non-party company in Virginia that was owned by two of the plaintiffs.

What's bad is the opinion makes it appear that the discovery they were lawing over is really lame, and part of a long series of discovery excess in connection with the case.

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