IADC Amicus Briefs - Volume 87, Number 4.

IADC

The IADC amicus curiae program has been active in recent months. The following briefs were filed by the IADC since the last Defense Counsel Journal issue:

Win on Discovery Proportionality: Suryani v. Watermark Harvard Square AL LLC (10/2/2020)

On Friday, October 2, 2020, the Supreme Court of Colorado overturned a trial court order which compelled a long-term care provider to produce medical records of patients other than those of the deceased resident whose heirs had filed the personal injury/malpractice lawsuit. The IADC submitted an amicus brief arguing that the trial court's order failed to perform the required analysis of the proportionality of the discovery sought, as required by the recently amended Colorado's Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(1). The CO Supreme Court reversed and remanded with direction to the trial judge to "make specific findings regarding" the 26(b)(1) proportionality factors.

This ruling is important because it was the first time the Court had addressed the 2015 amendments to Rule 26 of the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure which made changes regarding proportionality along the lines of the 2015 FRCP amendments and required courts to analyze proportionality as a threshold issue. We would like to thank Craig May and Meghan Berglind of Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell LLP who worked with us on the brief for their excellent job. The case is Suryani v. Watermark Harvard Square AL LLC, Supreme Court Case No: 2020SA234.

To read the order of the court, click here.

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Filing on FLSA Abuse: Scott v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (10/1/2020)

On Thursday, October 1, 2020, IADC and DRI submitted a joint amicus brief to the United States Supreme Court seeking review of the Second Circuit's expansive FLSA ruling in Scott v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., 954 F.3d 502 (2d Cir. 2020). The Second Circuit had relaxed the standard for a collective action under the FLSA, holding that plaintiffs are "similarly situated" and may proceed collectively "to the extent they share a similar issue of law or fact material to the disposition of their FLSA claims."...