Righthaven LLC v. Democratic Underground, LLC et al

Filing 127

RESPONSE TO ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE by Plaintiff Righthaven LLC. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration Declaration of Shawn A. Mangano, Esq. in Support of Righthaven LLC's OSC Response)(Mangano, Shawn)

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SHAWN A. MANGANO, ESQ.
Nevada Bar No. 6730
[e-mail]
SHAWN A. MANGANO, LTD.
9960 West Cheyenne Avenue, Suite 170
Las Vegas, Nevada 89129-7701
[phone] – telephone
[phone] – facsimile
Attorney for Righthaven LLC

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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DISTRICT OF NEVADA

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RIGHTHAVEN LLC, a Nevada limitedliability company,

Case No.: 2:10-cv-01356-RLH-RHH
DECLARATION OF SHAWN A.
MANGANO, ESQ. IN SUPPORT OF
RIGHTHAVEN LLC’S RESPONSE TO
ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE
CONCERNING COMPLIANCE WITH
LOCAL RULE 7.1-1

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Plaintiff,

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v.

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DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND, LLC, a
District of Columbia limited-liability
company; and DAVID ALLEN, an individual,

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Defendants.

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DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND, LLC, a
District of Columbia limited-liability
company,
Counterclaimant,

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v.

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RIGHTHAVEN LLC, a Nevada limitedliability company; and STEPHENS MEDIA
LLC, a Nevada limited-liability company,

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Counterdefendants.

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I, Shawn A. Mangano, Esq., declare, under penalty of perjury, that the following is true

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and correct:
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I am an attorney-at-law admitted to practice before all courts of the State of

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Nevada. I have personal knowledge of the facts set forth below, except for those factual

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statements expressly made upon information and belief, and as to those facts, I believe them to

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be true. I am over eighteen years old and I am competent to testify to the matters set forth

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herein.

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2.

I represent Righthaven LLC (“Righthaven”) in the above-referenced matter.

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3.

This declaration is made in support of Righthaven, LLC’s Response to Order to

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Show Cause Concerning Compliance With Local Rule 7.1-1.
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I have been admitted to practice before this Court since 1998. I am in good

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standing with the Court. I have extensive federal court litigation experience. In addition to

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being admitted to practice before all federal courts in this state, I am also admitted to practice

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before all federal courts in the State of California, the United States Court of Appeals for the

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Ninth Circuit, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the United States

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District Court for the District of Colorado.

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5.

I substituted in a counsel of record in this case by stipulation, which was filed on

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or about November 12, 2010. Prior to my substitution, J. Charles Coons and Joseph Chu, both of

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whom served as in house counsel for Righthaven, were prosecuting this case. Mr. Coons was

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admitted to practice in this state in 2007. Mr. Chu was admitted to practice in this state in 2008.

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I confirmed this information through a search of the State Bar of Nevada’s online membership

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records. On or about September 7, 2010, Mr. Coons certified and caused the Certificate of

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Interested Parties to be filed with the Court. (Doc. # 5.) Righthaven no longer employs Mr.

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Coons and Mr. Chu.

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6.

I served as co-counsel with Mr. Coons and Mr. Chu in several matters prior to

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their separation from Righthaven. I found both attorneys to be diligent and forthright. At times,

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their litigation skills understandably reflected their limited practice experience. This observation

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aside, Mr. Coons and Mr. Chu did participate and effectively brief several complicated issues

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concerning such matters as personal jurisdiction that resulted in favorable decisions for

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Righthaven.

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Based on my experience working with Mr. Coons and Mr. Chu, I honestly do not

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believe that they fully comprehended the scope of Local Rule 7.1-1’s “direct, pecuniary interest”

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requirement as it related to the need to disclose Stephens Media’s potential contingent recovery

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under the Strategic Alliance Agreement (the “SAA”). In fact, I did not fully appreciate the need

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to disclose Stephens Media under Local Rule 7.1-1 in view of the SAA’s terms until reviewing

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the Court’s June 14, 2011 Order (Doc. # 116). I reasonably viewed any contingent payment to

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Stephens Media under the SAA as constituting an indirect interest that required a two-step

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payment process assuming any case resulted in a recovery. Simply put, receipt of settlement

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funds through settlement or recovery by the enforcement of a judgment would be made to

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Righthaven. Righthaven would then be contractually obligated under the SAA to subsequently

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pay Stephens Media any recovered sums over and above costs incurred. Upon reviewing the

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Court’s Order I immediately began taking corrective action by causing amended disclosures to

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be filed in numerous pending actions in this District and in the District of Colorado. Overall, I

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have caused 80 such amended disclosures to be filed in this District. I have also caused 34

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amended disclosures to be filed in the District of Colorado. At no time have I ever intentionally,

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willfully or knowingly violated Local Rule 7.1-1.

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8.

On June 28, 2011, an automatic software update for the Internet browser was

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apparently installed on my computer. This automatic software update caused my Internet

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browser to be incompatible with the Court’s CM/ECF electronic filing system. While the

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CM/ECF system was accessible to me, it did not permit any files to be attached for submission. I

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was able to detect and rectify this incompatibility issue during the early afternoon of June 29th. I

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included this paragraph to this declaration after correcting the compatibility issue. This

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declaration absent this paragraph and Righthaven’s associated response were fully prepared for

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submission on June 28th.

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Signed and affirmed this 29th day of June, 2011.

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/s/ Shawn A. Mangano
SHAWN A. MANGANO, ESQ.

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5(b), I hereby certify that I on this 28th day

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of June, 2011, I attempted to upload the foregoing document on the Court’s CM/ECF system, but

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was unable to effectively do so until the 29th day of June, 2011 due to the CM/ECF’s systems

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unforeseen incompatibility with a recently installed Internet browser software update.

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SHAWN A. MANGANO, LTD.

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By: /s/ Shawn A. Mangano
SHAWN A. MANGANO, ESQ.
Nevada Bar No. 6730
[e-mail]
9960 West Cheyenne Avenue, Suite 170
Las Vegas, Nevada 89129-7701
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

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Attorney for Righthaven LLC

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