Formfactor, Inc. -v- Martek, Inc.

Filing 141

ORDER TERMINATING MOTIONS RE DISQUALIFICATION OF COUNSEL. Signed by Judge James Donato on 9/29/2017. (jdlc2S, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 9/29/2017)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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FORMFACTOR, INC.,
Plaintiff,

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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Case No. 14-cv-01122-JD

v.
MARTEK, INC.,

ORDER TERMINATING MOTIONS
RE DISQUALIFICATION OF
COUNSEL

Defendant.

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This case involved a business dispute. FormFactor, Inc. (“FormFactor”) sued MarTek, Inc.

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(“MarTek”) for copyright infringement, breach of written contract and violations of state and

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federal unfair competition laws; MarTek in turn asserted several counterclaims against

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FormFactor. Critically for purposes of this order, the parties reached an agreement in principle on

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May 5, 2015, Dkt. No. 98, and were thereafter able to finalize their settlement. And so on July 17,

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2015, the parties filed a stipulation to dismiss the entire case with prejudice under Rule 41(a) of

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the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Dkt. No. 111. The case was consequently closed.

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Beginning in October 2016 -- more than a year after the closure of the case -- there was a

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deluge of improper documents that were filed on the docket which go to a wholly separate dispute.

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Dkt. Nos. 113-140. These newly-filed documents center on MarTek’s request that the Court

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disqualify Foley & Lardner, LLP (FormFactor’s counsel in the now-closed case) from

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representing Complete Probe Solutions (“CPS”) in a new dispute that has arisen between MarTek

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and CPS. While MarTek makes some gestures to try to tie this to the stipulated protective order

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that was entered by this Court long ago, Dkt. No. 52, that is clearly not what is driving MarTek’s

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quest for relief from the Court. See, e.g., Dkt. No. 113 (“MarTek respectfully requests that Foley

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be disqualified from representation of CPS in its dispute against MarTek and prohibited from

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providing any protected information to any new attorney retained by CPS”); Dkt. No. 123

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(MarTek’s “motion to enforce protective order and disqualify Foley & Lardner”).

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MarTek’s request that the Court disqualify Foley & Lardner from representing a third party

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in another case that is not before the Court is wholly inappropriate. The Court is not a free-

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roaming enforcer of attorneys’ fiduciary duties to their clients or the rules of professional conduct.

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CPS was not and is not a party to the suit that was pending before this Court, which is now closed

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in any event. The parties have moreover notified the Court that the California Superior Court

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judge who is in fact presiding over the new case between MarTek and CPS has now resolved

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MarTek’s request that Foley & Lardner be disqualified from representing CPS in that case. Dkt.
No. 137. For all of these reasons, the Court terminates the disqualification requests and related

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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motions that were inappropriately filed on the docket for this case. Dkt. Nos. 113, 115, 119, 123,

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130, 132.

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The Court previously indicated that it would impose monetary sanctions on the losing

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party. Dkt. No. 128. CPS and Foley & Lardner, neither of which is a party to this case, ask that

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the Court sanction MarTek for having put them through “the burden of such extensive briefing in

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this Court.” Dkt. No. 137. The Court finds, however, that CPS and Foley & Lardner are just as

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responsible for creating that burden. In fact, CPS filed a 15-page brief opposing MarTek’s initial

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(and improper) discovery letter brief, stating that this was procedurally proper because the Court

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“previously transferred all discovery disputes to Magistrate Judge Spero” on March 12, 2015.

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Dkt. No. 114 at 1. This is a troubling representation -- a review of the ECF docket shows that it

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was made clear as of March 13, 2015, that the referral to Magistrate Judge Spero was for

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settlement only and not for discovery. CPS, Foley & Lardner, and yet another non-party,

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Lucas/Signatone Corp., also took it upon themselves to file a “supplemental opposition” to

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MarTek’s motion to disqualify, Dkt. No. 131, which of course MarTek then moved to strike. Dkt.

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No. 132. All of this leads the Court to conclude that there would be ample basis to sanction both

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sides here, but the Court declines to do so considering, among other things, that CPS, Foley &

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Lardner and Lucas/Signatone Corp. are not even proper parties who are before the Court.

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While the Court does not impose any sanctions at this time, the Court does order that no

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party or non-party may file anything further on the docket for this closed case without first seeking

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and receiving leave of Court.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: September 29, 2017

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JAMES DONATO
United States District Judge

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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