IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
E360INSIGHT, LLC,
an Illinois Limited Liability Company, and
DAVID LINHARDT, an individual
Plaintiffs,
v.
THE SPAMHAUS PROJECT,
a company limited by guarantee and
organized under the laws of England, aka
THE SPAMHAUS PROJECT LTD,
Defendant.
PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR RULE TO SHOW CAUSE FOR
FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH COURT ORDERED DISCOVERY
Plaintiffs, e360Insight, LLC and David Linhardt (collectively Plaintiffs), by and through their attorneys, Synergy Law Group, LLC, respectfully requests that this court issue a rule to show cause why Defendant The Spamhaus Project, aka The Spamhaus Project Ltd., (Defendant), should not be held in contempt for failure to comply with discovery requests pursuant to the Circuit Court of Cook County in an Order dated July 20, 2006. In support of this motion Plaintiffs state:
1. On July 20, 2006 the Honorable Phillip Bronstein, Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against Defendant. (A true and correct copy of this Order is attached to this Motion as Exhibit A.)
2. As part of the July 20, 2006 TRO, Judge Bronstein Ordered that Plaintiff was given leave to serve expedited discovery against Defendant, specifically request for production of documents and interrogatories. (True and correct copies of the requests for documents and interrogatories are attached as Exhibit B.)
3. On July 21, 2006 Defendant filed an Answer in the Circuit Court and also removed the matter to this Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1441.
4. On July 24, 2006 Defendant removed the references to Plaintiffs e360Insight LLC and David Linhardt from its website.
5. Defendant’s responses to the discovery served by Plaintiffs were due on or before August 17, 2006.
6. On August 17, 2006 counsel for Defendant, Evan Brown, of Hinshaw & Culbertson, LLP, informed Plaintiffs’ counsel that: 1) He and his firm were withdrawing from representing Defendant because Defendant was releasing the Hinshaw & Culbertson firm and, to his knowledge, Defendant did not intend to obtain new counsel; 2) Defendant was seeking to withdraw its Answer to the Amended Complaint filed in the Circuit Court before Defendant removed this matter to this Court; and 3) Defendant would not be providing responses to the discovery propounded by Plaintiffs.
7. Also on August 17, 2006 Defendant placed e360 on its website in contravention of the Circuit Court’s TRO. (True and correct copies of the Spamhaus webpages containing references to e360 are attached as Exhibit C.)
8. Plaintiffs respectfully request that a Rule to Show Cause be issued against Defendant for its failure to provide responses to the expedited discovery allowed by the Circuit Court. Defendant is flagrantly disregarding the TRO. This fact, combined with the representations from Mr. Brown, that Defendant was releasing its counsel, withdrawing its answer, and was not providing answers to the discovery, and the placement of additional postings on Defendant’s website of references to e360 demonstrates Defendant’s flagrant disregard for the laws of the United States, Defendant’s total disregard for this Court’s authority and Defendant’s bad faith.
9. A motion to compel would be futile given the circumstances created by Defendant’s actions, and should not be a precursor to Plaintiff bringing this Motion.
10. Plaintiffs’ counsel has complied with the provisions of Local Rule 37.2 through a telephone call occurring on August 17, 2006 at approximately 10:30 am occurring between Bartley J. Loethen on behalf of Plaintiffs, and Evan Brown on behalf of Defendant. A good faith attempt was made by Plaintiff’s counsel to resolve the differences stated in this motion, but Defendant’s counsel stated they were instructed to take no further action, thus an accord could not be reached.
Respectfully submitted,
E360Insight, LLC. and David Linhardt
By: /s/ Joseph L. Kish
One of Their Attorneys
Bartly J. Loethen
Joseph L. Kish
Kristen M. Lehner
Synergy Law Group, LLC
730 West Randolph, 6th Floor
Chicago, Illinois 60661
Telephone: (312) 454-0015
Facsimile: (312) 454-0261
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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that on August 18, 2006 I electronically filed the foregoing document with the Clerk of the United States District Court for the Northern Division of Illinois using the CM/ECF system which will send notification of such filing to the following:
Evan D. Brown [ebrown@hinshawlaw.com]
Andrew B. Cripe [acripe@hinshawlaw.com]
Joseph L. Kish [jkish@synergylawgroup.com]
Kristen M. Lehner [klehner@synergylawgroup.com]
And I hereby certify that I have mailed by the United States Postal Service the document to the following non CM/ECF participants: (no manual recipients).
________/s/ Kristen M. Lehner__________
Kristen M. Lehner