Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →

Mitra Rangarajan v. Johns Hopkins University, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, No. 17-1834, 17-1835, 17-1836 · judgment February 22, 2019

Certiorari denied · June 24, 2019

Pre-decision estimate: 5% cert probability (95% interval 3%–8%)

Before the decision, modestly above the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a circuit split argued in the petition, a petition filed soon after the judgment below, and a Fourth Circuit decision below.

Questions presented

Before this Honorable Court is the question of when it is appropriate to dismiss an action for discovery violations under Fed. R. Civ. P. 37, in light of the split in practice among federal circuits. Relatedly, the following sub-questions are also before the Court:

Whether an action can be dismissed for discovery violations for which a representing attorney alone is responsible.
Whether the discovery violations must prejudice the other side, and to what extent, for dismissal to qualify as an appropriate sanction.
Whether a warning that dismissal is possible is a prerequisite for dismissal as a sanction for discovery violations.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Cary Johnson Hansel III
Hansel Law, P.C.

For respondent
Robert Thomas Smith
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

Case

Subject area
Judicial Power (estimated from the questions presented, in the Supreme Court Database’s categories)

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Order
Order list, June 24, 2019 · Certiorari denied

Proceedings

Jun 24 2019
Petition DENIED.
Jun 04 2019
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/20/2019.
May 22 2019
Waiver of right of respondents Johns Hopkins University, et al. to respond filed.
May 15 2019
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due June 21, 2019)