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SUPREME COURT FOR THE STATE OF NEW YORK


COUNTY OF NEW YORK

LUKASZ GOTTWALD p/k/a DR. LUKE,


KASZ MONEY, INC., and PRESCRIPTION
Index No. 653118/2014
SONGS, LLC,
Hon. Jennifer Schecter
Plaintiffs,
Part 54
- against -

KESHA ROSE SEBERT p/k/a KESHA, ORAL ARGUMENT REQUESTED

Defendant. Motion Seq. No. 48

KESHA ROSE SEBERT p/k/a KESHA,

Counterclaim-Plaintiff,

- against -

LUKASZ GOTTWALD p/k/a DR. LUKE,


KASZ MONEY, INC., and PRESCRIPTION
SONGS, LLC, and DOES 1-25, inclusive,

Counterclaim-Defendants.

NON-PARTIES MARK GERAGOS AND GERAGOS & GERAGOS A.P.C.’S


OPPOSITION TO PLAINTIFFS’ PROPOSED ORDER TO SHOW
CAUSE FOR SANCTIONS AND CONTEMPT

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page

INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................1
FACTUAL BACKGROUND..........................................................................................................4
A. Mr. Geragos’ efforts to protect Kesha from Dr. Luke’s smear campaign. ..............4
B. Dr. Luke sues the Geragos Non-Parties...................................................................6
C. Dr. Luke subpoenas Kesha’s litigation counsel for documents...............................7
D. The Court denies Dr. Luke’s request for contempt sanctions..................................8
LEGAL DISCUSSION....................................................................................................................9
I. THERE IS NO CONTEMPT OF THE COURT’S ORDER ...............................................9
A. The Geragos Non-Parties did not violate an “unequivocal mandate” to
produce the documents at issue................................................................................9
B. Mr. Geragos did not provide false testimony.........................................................13
C. Dr. Luke has suffered no prejudice........................................................................17
D. No sanctions are warranted....................................................................................18
E. No forensic examination is warranted. ..................................................................19

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TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

Page
Cases
Bronston v. U.S.,
409 U.S. 352 (1973)................................................................................................................. 15

Brummer v. Wey,
No. 153583/2015, 2019 WL 3891177 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Aug. 19, 2019) .................................... 21

Buxbaum v. Castro,
82 A.D.3d 925 (2d Dep’t 2011) ............................................................................................... 19

CDR Créances S.A.S. v. Cohen,


23 N.Y.3d 307 (2014) ........................................................................................................ 16, 17

Dunlop Dev. Corp. v. Spitzer,


26 A.D.3d 180 (1st Dep’t 2006) .............................................................................................. 18

El-Dehdan v. El-Dehdan,
26 N.Y.3d 19 (2015) ...................................................................................................... 9, 10, 13

Encore I, Inc. v. Kabcenell,


2016 WL 6680456 at *2 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Nov. 4, 2016) ........................................................... 20

Flores v. Velez,
111 A.D.3d 599 (2nd Dep’t 2013) ........................................................................................... 13

Gottlieb v. Gottlieb,
137 A.D.3d 614 (1st Dep’t 2016) ...................................................................................... 18, 19

Gottwald v. Geragos,
172 A.D.3d 445 (1st Dep’t 2019) ........................................................................................ 7, 14

Klipsch Grp., Inc. v. Big Box Store Ltd.,


2014 WL 904595 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 4, 2014) ............................................................................. 20

Lifeng Chen v. New Trend Apparel, Inc.,


2012 WL 4784855 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 2, 2012) ............................................................................ 19

Matter of N.Y. Cent. Mut. Fire Ins. Co. v. Librizzi,


106 A.D.3d (2nd Dep’t 2013) ............................................................................................ 12, 21

Orent v. Bloomberg LP,


No. 156958/2017, 2019 WL 2559398 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Jun. 17, 2019) ..................................... 12

Parklex Associates v. Parklex Associates, Inc.,


(N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2011) ............................................................................................................... 18

ii

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Paul v. First Unum Life Ins. Co.,


295 A.D.2d 982 (4th Dep’t 2002)............................................................................................ 12

People v. Siggia,
163 A.D.2d 113 (1st Dep’t 1990) ...................................................................................... 14, 15

Statutory Authorities
N.Y. Civ. Prac. L. & R. 3101(h) ................................................................................................... 13

N.Y. Civ. Prac. L. & R. 3120(2) ................................................................................................... 11

Other Authorities
Connors, Supplementary Practice Commentaries Civil Practice Laws and Rules §3101
(McKinney 2014)...................................................................................................................... 13

iii

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INTRODUCTION

Dr. Luke’s contempt motion is a baseless and prima facie bad faith effort to further his

long-standing campaign to disparage Kesha in this Court and in the media by branding her, and

now her former counsel, as a liar in order to avoid the consequences of his years of abuse. This

motion, predicated on trumped-up charges of “perjury” and “contempt,” is just the latest in a long

line of Dr. Luke’s vexatious scorched-earth litigation tactics against numerous adversaries. As a

serial defamation plaintiff who has sued no fewer than eleven defendants for reputational harm,

Dr. Luke is no stranger to using litigation to silence his critics. Just as the Court summarily rejected

Dr. Luke’s attempts to discredit Kesha’s mother and her manager, so too should it reject this

transparent attempt to discredit her former lawyer.

This is perhaps Dr. Luke’s most egregious tactic yet—harassing his adversary’s former

counsel in this litigation with scurrilous and scattershot accusations as part of an attempt to concoct

a fictional defamatory scheme against him, and thus far wielded by him in attempt to undermine

and distract from Kesha’s highly credible claim that he drugged and raped her when she was only

18. Dr. Luke wants everyone’s credibility except for his in doubt, so he bends over backwards to

call Kesha and those who support her a liar. To that end, Dr. Luke frivolously accuses an attorney

of perjury—without even quoting the actual testimony he alleges is perjurious, because the actual

testimony doesn’t support him. In fact, Mr. Geragos’ testimony is a literally true response to a

badly phrased question by Dr. Luke's counsel and does not constitute perjury, much less a false

statement. Equally meritless is Dr. Luke’s contempt claim: the documents he claims Geragos &

Geragos (“G&G”) failed to produce in this case were not produced for the simple reason that they

are not responsive to Dr. Luke's subpoena, not because, as Dr. Luke allegedly believed, they were

“spoliated.” Accordingly, there is no contempt of the Court’s order compelling a response.

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The sex abuse case that is currently before the Court is a classic “me too” case. In fact,

many attribute Kesha’s brave undertaking as the genesis of the #metoo movement. Mr. Geragos

defended Kesha for years from Dr. Luke’s war on her in the courts and the press. After Mr.

Geragos concluded his representation, he transferred his files to lawyers at O’Melveny & Myers

and believed he was done with this case and went on to advocate for other clients. He then got hit

with a subpoena brimming with document and testimony requests this Court called “utterly

irrelevant” and “overbroad.” Had the Court considered whether discovery of a former litigation

counsel was appropriate under the now-governing standard, Mr. Geragos correctly would have not

been subject to any discovery. Liberty Petroleum Realty, LLC v. Gulf Oil, L.P., 164 A.D.3d

401,405-407 (1st Dep’t 2018) (depositions of counsel are “offensive to our conception of the

adversarial process”). After he was deposed once and then called back for a second deposition,

Mr. Geragos did exactly what the Court required, refreshed his recollection, and testified for

another day. Eighteen months passed with no word from Dr. Luke that the Geragos Non-Parties

did anything wrong. And that’s because the Geragos Non-Parties fully complied with the Court’s

order for a second deposition.

This motion, based on some alleged overlap between discovery in this case and his suit

against Mr. Geragos relating to Lady Gaga, reflects only Dr. Luke’s desperation to change the

music being played on the merits before Your Honor. In that vein, Dr. Luke’s assertion that he

does not “bring this motion lightly” is patently disingenuous. Dkt. 2230 (“Br.”) 1. It is self-evident

from his groundless “perjury” accusations that he has done just that.

Dr. Luke’s motion proceeds as follows: (1) he claims Mr. Geragos testified that G&G

deleted virtually all responsive documents; (2) he claims this was recently proven false when G&G

produced emails with members of the media or containing press clippings in Dr. Luke’s separate

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defamation case involving Lady Gaga; and (3) he claims the Geragos Non-Parties should,

therefore, be held in contempt, sanctioned, and subject to a forensic examination at their expense.

Each of these premises is gravely flawed. Mr. Geragos never testified that G&G deleted all

responsive documents. The emails G&G produced in the other case are not responsive to Dr.

Luke’s subpoena here. Accordingly, there is no violation of the Court’s order compelling a

response to the subpoena, no “perjury to conceal” documents, and no justification for an invasive

forensic examination.

The testimony Dr. Luke calls “perjury”—but which he tellingly never quotes—is that Mr.

Geragos agreed with Dr. Luke’s counsel’s leading question that it was his view “more documents”

were “probably” not produced because of G&G’s processes for periodically deleting emails.

However, this testimony is not false, let alone “perjury.” In fact, the testimony is not even an

unequivocal statement that G&G deleted emails with the media—documents that were not

responsive to the subpoena—but instead means only more responsive documents were probably

not produced because they could have been deleted through routine deletion procedures.

And yet Dr. Luke for years has feigned a belief that Mr. Geragos testified to “auto-deleting”

(a term he didn’t even utter) and “spoliating” documents—even though Dr. Luke has been

repeatedly informed, including prior to the close of discovery in this case, that he was laboring

under a misapprehension of the testimony and Mr. Geragos did not testify to spoliation. G&G’s

production of emails with the press in the other case is not some great revelation that there was no

spoliation. Rather, it is merely pretext for a motion transparently designed to inflict further damage

on Kesha and her former counsel by impugning their credibility with accusations of “perjury.”

Finally, the dozen emails with the media and other emails containing press clippings G&G

produced in the Lady Gaga case are not responsive to the subpoena here. Rather than propound

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simple requests asking for emails with the press, Dr. Luke now—two years after the Court ordered

him to “promptly” address any alleged deficiencies in third party productions—attempts to

shoehorn such documents into requests that nowhere mention the press. Instead, Dr. Luke falsely

characterizes Mr. Geragos’ responses to his attacks on Kesha in the press as part of a scheme to

terminate Dr. Luke’s contracts. That is Dr. Luke’s version of events—but a document demand

that incorporates his mischaracterization of facts lacks foundation and fails to give reasonable

notice he was seeking emails with members of the media. There thus can be no contempt because

the Court’s order requiring G&G to “respond” to the requests—like the requests themselves—

never mentioned emails with the media; there is thus neither a violation of the order, nor was the

order an “unequivocal mandate” (Br. 16) to produce such documents, which is required for a

contempt finding. Accordingly, there is no basis for sanctions or a further document production.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

A. Mr. Geragos’ efforts to protect Kesha from Dr. Luke’s smear campaign.

Dr. Luke claims the documents at issue on this motion are a dozen emails with members

of the media and emails among Kesha’s legal and public relations team circulating press clippings

he alleges reflect a plan and efforts by Kesha and the Geragos Non-Parties “to destroy [his]

reputation and business through a coordinated media campaign.” Br. 3. But that is Dr. Luke’s

version of events (and one, as discussed in detail later, he now attempts to bake-into document

requests he says were not complied with).

Mr. Geragos testified, however, that his communications with the press were a direct

response to attempts by Dr. Luke, Dr. Luke’s counsel of record, and his crisis manager, Michael

Sitrick of Sitrick and Company, to “defame [his] client” Kesha, to “slam [his] client,” to “accuse

[his] client of extortion,” and to “poison[] the well” in the court of public opinion. See Movit Aff.

Ex. 2 at 404:24-405:11; see also id. 111:17-25.

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Dr. Luke, for his part, admits to hiring Sitrick. See Dkt. 2081 at 445:22-446:4. Sitrick is

a self-described “practitioner[] of the dark arts of public relations” who touts his “aggressiveness”

and “ability to play the media to his client’s advantage.” 12/5/19 Affirmation of Cory D. Struble

(“Struble Aff.), Ex. 3. The Financial Times called him “The spin doctor’s spin doctor.” Id. Dr.

Luke also cannot deny that his litigation counsel, Ms. Lepera, fed numerous statements to the

media over the years denigrating Kesha and her claims that Dr. Luke raped her. E.g., 12/5/19

Affidavit of Mark Geragos (“Geragos Aff.”) ¶¶7-8; Dkts.1109-1112, 1916, 1950, 2016, 2025,

2027, 2029, 2030, see also Dkt. 1094 at 4-5.

Such statements began the day this lawsuit started. Asked whether he provided “TMZ

with a copy of the complaint before it was filed,” Mr. Geragos responded, “all the TMZ work was

done by your client, Sitrick. He is the one who had the relationship with Harvey [Levin at TMZ]

and was giving Harvey all the information. At least that’s what I was told that same day, that …

Sitrick had given Harvey the New York complaint, and Sitrick had spun the story pro Luke on that

first day.” Movit Aff. Ex. 2 at 158:4-22, 416:9-417:25. Mr. Geragos was constrained to respond

to Dr. Luke’s public statements repeatedly. See id. 407:25-408:13 (“when your firm filed the

lawsuit the same day and started going on the offensive with Sitrick, that caused a firestorm of

media. So, there was responses”); id., 409:8-409:13 (“I don’t think I did any press on that day

until after … your firm hired Sitrick, and your firm issued statements. I don’t think there was any

press done prior”).

Mr. Geragos also testified to his knowledge that, throughout the lawsuit, “Sitrick was

actively leaking and planting stories and things of that nature.” Movit Aff. Ex. 2 at 112:9-17.

When asked about specific press statements, Mr. Geragos explained he was constrained to respond

after Sitrick or Dr. Luke’s counsel had defamed Kesha in the press. See id. 293:18-294:5 (“I think

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it was after … the Sitrick offensive”); 389:16-25 (“It’s right after your firm started claiming that

she was committing extortion … I generally don’t let opposing counsel say that my clients

committed crimes and let them go unresponded to.”); 403:2-10 (“I remember responding to Ms.

Lepera’s statements. She was circulating all kinds of statements”); 353:18-354:14 (“It looks to me

like Ms. Lepera was probably acting as a source and being quoted on this, is my guess.”).

Against this record, Dr. Luke plays victim. Br. 5-6. He claims Mr. Geragos filed a “Sham

Complaint” in California shortly before Dr. Luke filed this case the same day. Id. 5. But it is for

the finder of fact to decide whose case is the “sham”—not Dr. Luke. He says the “sham complaint”

was designed to “to pressure Plaintiffs to release Defendant” from contracts. Id. He then claims

Mr. Geragos conspired with others to create a “a so-called ‘Press Plan’” to incite “negative media

attention and public pressure,” a “plan” he says was “effectuate[d]” by “repeat[ing] … false

accusations against [Dr. Luke] in countless public forums.” Id. Yet, Dr. Luke never accounts for

the fact that his own horrific abuse of Kesha, perpetuated still further by the actions of Sitrick and

his counsel in the press, necessitated responses to protect Kesha from Dr. Luke’s attempt to

assassinate her character and discredit her claims. Geragos Aff. ¶¶6-9.

Dr. Luke also attempts to impugn another lawyer for Kesha, Mr. Meiselas, by claiming he

purportedly “falsely testified” to “conceal” press activities. Br. 6 & n. 4. That is not true.

Testifying about events that were at that point 2-3 years old, he stated only that he was “not sure”

whether G&G retained Sunshine Sachs, but it was “possible.” Dkt. 1724 at 226:17-227:7. The

brief affidavit he later submitted regarding Sunshine Sachs, Dkt. 1117, was obviously the hardly

unusual result of refreshing his recollection.

B. Dr. Luke sues the Geragos Non-Parties.

Not content to go to war in the press, Dr. Luke waged war against Mr. Geragos in the

courts, suing him personally for defamation (after having sued Kesha, her mother (twice), and her

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manager). Dr. Luke is no stranger to using defamation litigation against his critics, having sued

no fewer than eleven defendants in seven cases between 2008-2014. Struble Aff. ¶10. In early

December 2014, less than two months after this case had been pending, Dr. Luke sued the Geragos

Non-Parties in New York State Supreme Court for defamation (the “Gaga Case”).

Shortly before then, Mr. Geragos had been quoted in the press stating his belief that other

women who had been abused by Dr. Luke would come forward. On December 2, 2014, recording

artist Stefani Germanotta, p/k/a Lady Gaga, gave a radio interview in which she disclosed she had

been raped and, while she did not name the perpetrator, she indicated the man was a record

producer. She also disclosed the unnamed man was much older than she, and she was raped at

about the same age and around the same time Kesha claims Dr. Luke raped her. Dr. Luke sued

after Mr. Geragos “tweeted” about the interview for allegedly suggesting it was Dr. Luke.

That case is ongoing, but has been largely stalled as a result of Dr. Luke’s scorched-earth

refusal to participate in discovery. For nearly two years, Dr. Luke refused to respond to virtually

every discovery request the Geragos Non-Parties served, including any documents regarding his

pre-existing reputation for sexual misconduct (against Kesha and others), claiming, on the one

hand, there were no such claims, and on the other hand, such claims should not be discoverable.

Both Supreme Court and the First Department disagreed, the latter dismissing his appeal in a two-

sentence decision calling his arguments “unavailing.” Gottwald v. Geragos, 61 Misc.3d 1214(A),

2018 WL 5624349 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Oct. 17, 2018); Gottwald v. Geragos, 172 A.D.3d 445, 446 (1st

Dep’t 2019).

C. Dr. Luke subpoenas Kesha’s litigation counsel for documents.

The Geragos Non-Parties concluded their representation of Kesha in May of 2016 and

turned over the entire case file to Kesha’s new counsel around the same time. Dkt. 634 ¶10 (2/2/17

Affirmation of Tina Glandian). That December, Dr. Luke served G&G with a subpoena duces

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tecum (“SDT”) (Dkt. 635) commanding the production of documents and a subpoena ad

testificandum (“SAT”) (Dkt. 672) for G&G to provide testimony. In February 2017, G&G moved

to quash both.

The Court struck five of the ten document requests as “utterly irrelevant” or “overbroad.”

Dkt. 795 at 2-3 (the “Discovery Order”). The Court likewise struck as “utterly irrelevant or

overbroad” six of the deposition topics. Id. 4. The Court did not evaluate the subpoenas under the

standard subsequently set forth in the First Department’s Liberty Petroleum decision, but instead

reasoned, contrary to Liberty Petroleum, that it is “not a valid objection that information available

from other sources is being sought from a non-party.” Dkt. 795 at 1-2; but see. 164 A.D.3d at 406

(discovery not available from litigation counsel unless “the information is not available from

another source.”).

As to the SDT, the Court ordered that G&G “shall respond to demands 1, 2, 6, 7, and 10.”

Id. 2. The Court did not comment further on the latter four document requests, other than to

observe they sought “documents that include third-parties, i.e., parties outside of the attorney/client

relationship.” See id.

G&G completed its document production on April 5, 2017. 12/5/19 Affidavit of Tina

Glandian (“Glandian Aff.”), Ex. 3. Though the Court ordered “Plaintiffs [to] move promptly to

hold in contempt non-party witnesses who refuse to supply subpoenaed documents,” see id. & Dkt.

822, Dr. Luke never sought relief regarding G&G’s production, nor did he identify specific

deficiencies or request meet-and-confer regarding same. See Glandian Aff. ¶¶6-7; Struble Aff. ¶4.

D. The Court denies Dr. Luke’s request for contempt sanctions.

Following Mr. Geragos’ deposition as G&G’s corporate representative, Dr. Luke moved

for contempt and a second deposition, claiming Mr. Geragos was not adequately prepared to

address all SAT topics. Dkt. 867-868. Dr. Luke sought testimony regarding “Tweets” about the

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Kesha-Luke dispute; who had access to Mr. Geragos’ Twitter; and a third-party’s Twitter account,

as well as the claim that Dr. Luke gave Kesha the date rape drug “GHB.” See Dkt. 867. Dr. Luke

did not seek further testimony regarding G&G’s response to the SDT, see id., despite including

that topic in a “draft” of his proposed OSC shared with counsel. See Glandian Aff. Ex. 1.

The Court struck contempt from the order to show cause and declined to issue sanctions,

but granted a second deposition. Dkt. 1020 at 6, 10-11. The Court ordered Mr. Geragos to “review

the transcript from his first deposition” to identify where he did not know or remember the answer,

refresh his recollection, and provide answers. Id. 11. The Court made clear that it would “entertain

a contempt application” only if Mr. Geragos “[did] not timely appear for a deposition and comply

with the directives provided” in its Order. Id. 10.

Mr. Geragos retained Quinn Emanuel to represent him for the second deposition, which

was conducted in March 2018. Mr. Geragos followed the Court’s order to refresh his recollection

and answer all of counsel’s questions. See Movit Aff. Ex. 3. To date, there have been no

complaints about the second deposition.

LEGAL DISCUSSION

As Dr. Luke acknowledges, he bears the burden to prove by clear and convincing evidence

the Geragos Non-Parties (1) “with reasonable certainty, disobeyed,” (2) an order “clearly

expressing an unequivocal mandate,” and (3) causing prejudice to Dr. Luke. Br. 16 (quoting El-

Dehdan v. El-Dehdan, 26 N.Y.3d 19, 29 (2015)). He fails to meet any of these elements.

I. THERE IS NO CONTEMPT OF THE COURT’S ORDER

A. The Geragos Non-Parties did not violate an “unequivocal mandate” to


produce the documents at issue.

The Geragos Non-Parties are not in contempt of the Court’s Discovery Order. Dr. Luke

fails to establish the Geragos Non-Parties violated an order “clearly expressing an unequivocal

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mandate” to produce the documents he claims are responsive. El-Dehdan, 26 N.Y.3d at 29. There

can be no contempt where the order in question is not an “unambiguous directive” to do what the

complaining party claims should have been done; rather, the order must “[leave] no doubt as to its

requirements.” Id. 30. Here, the Discovery Order does not clearly and unequivocally require the

production of documents Dr. Luke now claims are responsive, and the Geragos Non-Parties have

not violated that order.

As an initial matter, Dr. Luke wrongly asserts the Court ordered G&G “to produce … all

of their documents in five enumerated categories.” Br. 1. Dr. Luke never moved to compel G&G’s

production of documents. Instead, in ruling on G&G’s motion to quash, the Court ordered only

that G&G “shall respond to demands 1, 2, 6, 7, and 10 of the SDT.” Dkt. 795 at 2; see also id. 1

(defining “Geragos” as “G&G”). The Court’s order that G&G “respond” to the requests at issue

meant only that G&G should conduct a search for responsive documents, and if any responsive

documents exist, produce them. The Court did not find that any responsive documents exist, or

that the communications Dr. Luke now complains of were responsive to the requests at issue.

G&G did exactly as ordered: G&G conducted a search and determined no documents are

responsive to SDT Request Nos. 6 and 7, the requests at issue (Br. 2). See Geragos Aff. ¶¶3-10.

The Geragos Non-Parties have therefore complied with the Court’s Discovery Order.

Dr. Luke claims G&G disobeyed the Order by failing to produce a dozen emails with

members of the media and other emails among Kesha’s legal and public relations team circulating

press clippings regarding this dispute. He says these documents—which G&G produced in the

Gaga Case—are responsive to Request Nos. 6 and 7, and G&G therefore violated the Court’s order

by failing to produce them. Br. 2. But neither the SDT nor the Order required the production

of communications with members of the media or about press clippings.

10

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Instead, these requests call for documents that relate to a “plan, request, or effort” to either

terminate or change agreements between Kesha and Dr. Luke, or “to pressure” third-party record

companies to change their agreements with him. See Br. 8. The requests further conflate the

foregoing categories with “‘protests,’ petitions, and social media campaigns.” Id. None of the

Gaga Case documents Dr. Luke puts before the Court reference any “plan” or “effort” to terminate

agreements or pressure others to do so, much less a protest, petition, or social media campaign.

Yet Dr. Luke claims the documents are “unquestionably responsive,” so “unquestionable” it seems

that he never answers why. Br. 13, 14, 18.

Dr. Luke erroneously claims these requests call for documents that show Kesha and the

Geragos Non-Parties sought “to destroy Gottwald’s reputation and business through a coordinated

media campaign.” See Br. 3. But that is Dr. Luke’s characterization of events. The requests lack

foundation because Dr. Luke’s characterization of events is baseless. Geragos Aff. ¶¶3-10. The

Geragos Non-Parties sought to protect Kesha from Dr. Luke’s campaign to assassinate her

character and wrongly brand her as a liar and an extortionist in the media. Id. Mr. Geragos has

testified repeatedly in this litigation that his statements in the press were to protect Kesha from Dr.

Luke’s war against her in the media. See supra at 4-6.

Dr. Luke’s requests, paired with his interpretation of them here, thus seem to improperly

call for some form of admission as to his characterization of events. But that is what requests for

admission are for. Document requests, by contrast, must be stated with “reasonable particularity.”

CPLR 3120(2). A defamation plaintiff plainly cannot propound a document request such as “All

documents showing defendant acted with actual malice in defaming plaintiff.” That not only calls

for an admission, but is unduly subjective and therefore fails to provide “reasonable particularity.”

Id. A responding party cannot know whether a document is responsive because the request

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presumes a characterization of events from the requesting party’s point of view. The CPLR does

not expect a responding party to read minds as to whether a document reflects what the requesting

party thinks is a malicious “plan” to destroy the other in order to “terminate” or “renegotiate” the

terms of an agreement, or to “pressure” third parties.

If what Dr. Luke wanted were communications with media outlets and press clippings

about this litigation G&G produced in the Gaga Case, then he could have easily propounded

requests clearly requesting them. Indeed, when he requested public relations agency Sunshine

Sachs to produce them, he did so in plain terms, calling for “all documents relating to any

communications” with “media outlets” and including “press statements” regarding subject matters

defined to include this litigation. See Dkt. 858 at 11 (No. 1), Dkt. 849, Dkt. 1020 at 2-5.

Dr. Luke cannot use the guise of a contempt motion to wedge whole categories of

documents into a poorly drawn subpoena that fails to call for those documents, even if the Court

ordered a response. “The burden of serving a proper demand is upon counsel, and it is not for the

courts to correct a palpably bad one.” Matter of N.Y. Cent. Mut. Fire Ins. Co. v. Librizzi, 106

A.D.3d, 921 921-22 (2nd Dep’t 2013). While Dr. Luke may regret having served poorly drawn

demands, a contempt motion cannot be used as a vehicle to correct that failure. See, e.g., Paul v.

First Unum Life Ins. Co., 295 A.D.2d 982, 983 (4th Dep’t 2002) (vacating contempt finding

because though party was previously ordered to respond to document requests, there was no basis

to find a violation where they were poorly drawn). Courts consistently refuse to find contempt

where it is not beyond dispute that a party was required to produce documents that are the subject

of the contempt motion. See id.; see also Orent v Bloomberg LP, No. 156958/2017, 2019 WL

2559398, at *1 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Jun. 17, 2019) (denying sanctions motion for “non-compliance with

a discovery order” based on alleged “withholding of responsive documents and misrepresentations

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regarding the existence of these documents” because party “was not required to produce these

documents”); Flores v. Velez, 111 A.D.3d 599, 600 (2nd Dep’t 2013) (vacating sanction where

responsive documents did not exist).

Inasmuch as the Discovery Order merely required G&G to “respond to” Request Nos. 6

and 7—without further directives as to what documents were responsive—the Order was not an

“unequivocal mandate” requiring production of the documents at issue, as required for a contempt

finding (Br. 16, citing El-Dehdan, 26 N.Y.3d at 29). Dr. Luke suggests that, in the middle of Mr.

Geragos’ first deposition, the Court “made clear” Request Nos. 6 and 7 “would include ‘statements

to the press.’” Br. 17. However, Ms. Porder referred to the SAT only, and did not refer to the

SDT requests—a meaningful difference given responsiveness within a deposition is hewed to

particular questions, whereas the SDT requests lack any guidance as to what documents are

responsive. There was thus no “unequivocal mandate” that G&G produce documents reflecting

media communications. Moreover, Ms. Porder’s comments came after G&G already made its

production, and Dr. Luke never sought any meet-and-confer follow-up efforts regarding alleged

deficiencies in G&G’s production on the basis of Ms. Porder’s comments, or otherwise. Further,

the CPLR does not require non-parties to affirmatively supplement document productions absent

a request for same. CPLR 3101(h); see Connors, Supplementary Practice Commentaries Civil

Practice Laws and Rules §3101 (McKinney 2014) §3101:49 (“a nonparty … has no obligation to

supplement … a second … subpoena may be necessary”).

B. Mr. Geragos did not provide false testimony.

Dr. Luke’s allegation that Mr. Geragos provided “false and fraudulent” testimony is, itself,

a “false and fraudulent” claim. Br. 18. Dr. Luke flatly and repeatedly misrepresents the record,

claiming Mr. Geragos “testified under oath that he was no longer in possession of [any] responsive

emails owing to his firm’s deletion practices.” Br. 18 (citing Movit Aff., Ex. 2, at 30:15-20, 32:2-

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14); see also id. 1 (“Geragos falsely stated … that all but three documents which this Court had

ordered the Geragos Parties to produce did not exist because they had been deleted”); id. 2

(“testified that they had been automatically deleted”); id. 9 (“testifies that nearly all responsive

documents have been deleted”). That is not what Mr. Geragos testified, and tellingly, Dr. Luke

does not quote the pertinent testimony anywhere in his brief. Geragos Aff. ¶¶11-13.

The testimony Dr. Luke claims is perjurious was immediately preceded by an exchange in

which Mr. Geragos testified to his understanding that “as a matter of course,” emails at G&G are

“deleted periodically.” See Movit Aff., Ex. 2 at 32:2-10. The following question and allegedly

perjurious answer then followed:

Q. And would that be why, in your view, there were not more documents produced
in response to the subpoena duces tecum?

A. Probably, yeah.

Movit Aff., Ex. 2, at 32:11-14 (emphasis added). Clearly, Mr. Geragos did not testify “he was no

longer in possession of [all] responsive emails owing to his firm’s deletion practices.” Br. 18. He

testified that, in his view, the routine delete process was probably why more documents were not

produced. See Geragos Aff. ¶¶11-13. The question’s wording is such that the answer is the

equivalent of saying “our routine deletion procedures were why some documents probably were

not produced.” Dr. Luke has already admitted to a similar understanding—undercutting his

baseless construction now—when he said Mr. Geragos only “acknowledged that this deletion

policy likely contributed to [a] small production.” See Glandian Aff. Ex. 2 at 3 (emphasis added).

This is a far cry from the “perjury” Dr. Luke claims (Br. 1); it is a literally true response to

a badly phrased, leading question with zero follow-up questioning. Geragos Aff. ¶¶11-13. A

statement is “not perjurious” where it is a “literally true” response to a question. People v. Siggia,

163 A.D.2d 113, 115–16 (1st Dep’t 1990). Nor is there “false testimony” where the question “was

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somewhat ambiguous” or “at best, inartfully worded.” Id. (question “failed to meet this standard

of specificity”). Rather, “the burden is on the questioner to pin the witness down to the specific

object of the questioner's inquiry.” Id. (quoting Bronston v. U.S., 409 U.S. 352, 360 (1973)). Here,

counsel chose to immediately move on to other topics and did not follow-up with a question as to

whether there were any other reasons more documents were not produced, such as the reason that

G&G did not view such documents as responsive. Movit Aff. Ex. 2 at 32:21-20; Geragos Aff. ¶¶

13; see Siggia, 163 A.D.2d at 116 (no “false testimony” where counsel failed to ask “further

questioning” that “would certainly have [] fixed [the testimony] either as fully truthful or false”).

And counsel likely realized that there were questions he left unasked when he initially planned to

seek a second deposition on this topic, but inexplicably chose not to. See Glandian Aff. Ex. 1.

Dr. Luke also mischaracterizes testimony by repeatedly stating Mr. Geragos testified all

documents were “auto-deleted.” Br. 2 (“testified that they had all been automatically deleted”);

id. 20 (“concession that they automatically delete electronic files”). Mr. Geragos did not even use

this phrase in the exchange quoted above, and it was only counsel that later in the deposition used

it, without defining it. Compare Movit Aff. Ex. 2 at 32:2-10 with id. 74:24-75:3 (first reference).

Counsel seems to have construed G&G’s “deletion practices” as an automated process whereby a

computer deletes all electronic documents, see Br. 10, n. 5, but this is not Mr. Geragos’ testimony.

To the extent he responded to counsel’s use of “automatic,” it was only in the sense that G&G

abides by routine periodic procedures to manually delete documents that are not otherwise to be

saved, as set forth in a verified interrogatory response provided to Dr. Luke in October 2017. See

Movit Aff. Ex. 7 at 57. Dr. Luke’s receipt of this response two years ago further undermines his

position that G&G’s October 2019 document production was somehow a revelation documents

were not automatically deleted by a computer.

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Dr. Luke claims three other answers are false, but he is wrong again. First, he claims Mr.

Geragos’ testimony that he “had been unable to locate any responsive communications with the

media” is false because the Gaga Case document production includes such emails. Br. 18 (citing

Movit Aff. Ex. 2 at 33:4-8). That begs the question; as demonstrated supra, communications with

the media produced in the Gaga Case are not responsive to the SDT. In any event, Dr. Luke has

failed to carry his burden to establish Mr. Geragos’ testimony that he “didn’t find any” such

communications is false, for Dr. Luke has not proven Mr. Geragos did find such communications,

which Mr. Geragos did not specifically search for because they are nonresponsive. Cf. Geragos

Aff. ¶4. Second, Dr. Luke claims it was false for Mr. Geragos to say he did not “recall any email

with TMZ regarding the ‘Kesha-Dr. Luke dispute,’ and that if he had, they would have been

deleted automatically.” Br. 18 (citing Movit Aff. Ex. 2 at 262:20-263:3). Dr. Luke points to no

evidence proving Mr. Geragos could recall an email with TMZ. Dr. Luke further misrepresents

Mr. Geragos’ testimony regarding auto-delete, as he testified only that auto-delete—again

undefined by counsel—“is generally the practice,” not that these specific emails were auto-deleted.

Movit Aff. Ex. 2 at 262:24-263:3. Third, Dr. Luke claims it is false for Mr. Geragos to testify he

“did not have any responsive documents that he believed were privileged.” Br. 18 (citing Movit

Aff. Ex. 2 at 51:13-22). That again begs the question, as there is no basis for concluding the

testimony is false since the documents are nonresponsive to the SDT.

Finally, Dr. Luke erroneously relies on CDR Créances S.A.S. v. Cohen, 23 N.Y.3d 307,

318 (2014), to appeal to the court’s “inherent power” to sanction a “‘fraud on the court.’” Br. 14-

15. He ignores that a “fraud on the court” refers to “a systematic and pervasive scheme” through

“repeated perjury or falsification of evidence.” CDR Créances, 23 N.Y.3d at 318. It is not meant

to be invoked to address “isolated instances of perjury about matters not central to the issues in the

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case,” or, as here, where the allegedly “offending party offers ‘equally plausible alternative

explanations’ for [alleged] discrepancies in testimony.” Id. 320. Accordingly, there is no basis

for Dr. Luke to request sanctions based on “fraud on the court.”

C. Dr. Luke has suffered no prejudice.

Dr. Luke fails to show prejudice. He attempts to blame the Geragos Non-Parties for his

failure to “promptly” address third-party document deficiencies as the Court ordered, Dkt. 822,

claiming two years after G&G’s production that alleged “misrepresent[ations]” disabled him from

following-up on G&G’s production efforts. Br. 19. Yet, Dr. Luke was aware of the Court’s Order,

Glandian Aff. Ex. 3, and chose not to seek further supplementation from G&G and made zero

attempt to clarify or address any specific alleged deficiencies through meet-and-confer, id. ¶7 &

Struble Aff. ¶4. This alone is reason enough to deny the motion.

G&G’s document production in the Gaga Case is not some great revelation to Dr. Luke

that justifies his belated efforts. While he claims he believed all along until recently that G&G

spoliated its documents, he fails to inform the Court that counsel for the Geragos Non-Parties have

repeatedly attempted to correct Dr. Luke’s misapprehensions. In addition to the two-year old

verified interrogatory response (Movit Aff. Ex. 7))—which informed Dr. Luke that computers do

not “automatically delete” G&G’s documents—these repeated attempts are set forth in counsel’s

declaration submitted herewith. See Struble Aff. ¶¶3-9.

Any alleged prejudice is therefore of Dr. Luke’s own making. He was fully on notice, well

before the close of discovery, that his “spoliation” contentions were rejected and that his reading

of Mr. Geragos’ testimony as an admission of “spoliation” was unfounded. And yet Dr. Luke did

not attempt, for example, to serve a second subpoena requesting the media communications (using

plain language as in the Sushine Sachs subpoenas, supra at 12) he now belatedly attempts to

shoehorn into document requests to which they have no obvious connection.

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Also insufficient is Dr. Luke’s claim he suffered prejudice in spending money litigating

this motion. Br. 19. Dr. Luke could have avoided this meritless contempt motion altogether had

he sought a meet-and-confer, or any follow-up regarding alleged deficiencies, as Rule 14 requires.

See, e.g., Parklex Associates v. Parklex Associates, Inc., 33 Misc.3d 1216(A), at *8 (N.Y. Sup. Ct.

2011) (“Surely, compliance with Rule 14[‘s] [meet and confer requirement] would have been a far

more efficient strategy to obtain the desired information than insisting upon the litigation of a

meritless motion for contempt which has cost a non-party to the litigation in excess of $21,000 and

this Court, countless hours”).

In fact, the Court should deny the motion for precisely this reason. Rule 14’s requirement

that “[c]ounsel must consult with one another in a good faith effort to resolve all disputes about

disclosure” prior to a motion is not optional. Just as he has argued in this Court, “[Dr. Luke] did

not support [his] motion with an affirmation of good faith, because no good faith attempt to resolve

this motion ever took place … This is reason enough to deny this motion.” Dkt. 998 at 5

(emphasis added) (citing Dunlop Dev. Corp. v. Spitzer, 26 A.D.3d 180, 182 (1st Dep’t 2006)

(“petitioner failed to include an affirmation of good faith, as mandated by 22 NYCRR§ 202.7(a)”).

Dr. Luke cannot wield Rule 14 and the affirmation of good faith requirement against his

adversaries when it suits him, and then skirt it when it does not. The motion should be denied.

D. No sanctions are warranted.

Dr. Luke has failed to show a violation of an order warranting sanctions, and therefore, no

sanctions are warranted. However, even were the Court to entertain his request, Dr. Luke has

failed to justify his sanctions request. At best, only the expenses incurred with this motion would

be available. That is because, as Dr. Luke’s own case holds, only legal fees “that constitute [the]

actual loss or injury as a result of contempt” are recoverable. Br. 15 (citing Gottlieb v. Gottlieb,

137 A.D.3d 614, 618 (1st Dep’t 2016) (Br. 15). The First Department reversed for improperly

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including legal fees to prepare other pleadings and for trial where a party failed to produce

documents because “[t]here was no basis for the court to conclude that such legal fees constituted

an actual loss or injury related to the contempt as a means of compensating plaintiff, rather than

punishing [contemnor], for the wrong.” Id. 618-619.

As in Gottlieb, Dr. Luke seeks reimbursement of attorneys’ fees well beyond this motion

and any alleged harm, including for (1) his opposition to the motion to quash; (2) the motion to

compel a second deposition; and (3) preparing for and taking two depositions. None of these

expenses have anything to do with the claim G&G failed to produce responsive documents. In

fact, the Court struck fully half of the document requests and deposition topics at issue in G&G’s

motion to quash, finding Dr. Luke’s requests to be “utterly irrelevant” and “overbroad.” He cannot

now seek compensation for contesting a motion he largely lost due to his own poorly crafted

demands. Nor does the motion to compel a second deposition, or the expenses incurred in taking

two depositions, have anything to do with the instant motion. Dr. Luke never complained that Mr.

Geragos’ answers to questions regarding document collection and production were inadequate,

and never sought to justify a second deposition on this basis. Indeed, in Mr. Geragos’ second

deposition, Dr. Luke asked zero questions regarding G&G’s efforts to respond to the SDT. See

Movit Aff. Ex. 3.

E. No forensic examination is warranted.

Dr. Luke presents no basis for a forensic examination of G&G’s computers. Br. 20-21.

This relief is “granted only under limited circumstances, when there is reason to believe that a

litigant has tampered with the computer or hidden relevant materials …” Lifeng Chen v. New

Trend Apparel, Inc. 2012 WL 4784855, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 2, 2012); Buxbaum v. Castro, 82

A.D.3d 925 (2d Dep’t 2011) (affirming denial because “the principle of ‘full disclosure’ does not

give a party the right to uncontrolled and unfettered disclosure”). In the cases Dr. Luke cites, for

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example, the examination was allowed against party litigants, not nonparties, and involved

repeated failure to produce documents and tampering with documents or, as in the case before

Your Honor, only after an insufficient response to an order to provide “an affidavit of good faith

related to [the party’s] own search of his computer/emails.” Klipsch Grp., Inc. v. Big Box Store

Ltd., 2014 WL 904595, at *6-7 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 4, 2014); Encore I, Inc. v. Kabcenell, 2016 WL

6680456 at *2 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Nov. 4, 2016). Here, Dr. Luke has made no such drastic showing,

and ironically, the basis for his motion is G&G did not spoliate.

The rarity of such examinations “reflects the fact that the production of a computer to an

adversary almost invariably will lead to disclosure of quantities of documents that are entirely

irrelevant or privileged, and, even if not privileged, possibly quite sensitive”—a concern

particularly acute here. Chen, 2012 WL 4784855, at *1. G&G is a law firm whose electronic data

repositories store confidential, privileged, and highly sensitive information belonging to third

parties and clients. A review by an outside auditor would be highly invasive and threaten the

substantial interests of numerous clients of the firm and the firm itself. Geragos Aff. ¶14.

No further supplemental document production is warranted at all because the documents

Dr. Luke seeks are not responsive. To the extent the Court orders it, a production should be

handled by G&G’s outside counsel, who oversaw the Gaga Case production. See 12/5/19

Affirmation of James McGuire. Dr. Luke’s only objection is we allegedly “cannot be trusted to

make that production … given [our alleged] failure … to correct Geragos’ false testimony or

produce additional documents.” Br. 21. This is wrong. As explained above, counsel for the

Geragos Non-Parties repeatedly informed Dr. Luke’s counsel they misapprehended the meaning

of the testimony and there was no spoliation. Further, there was no “false testimony” to “correct,”

nor were there additional documents to produce since the documents are nonresponsive. Finally,

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Dr. Luke concedes the Geragos Non-Parties’ counsel in fact made a “substantial production of

documents” in the Gaga Case, Br. 2, which demonstrates they will honor their ethical obligations

to produce responsive documents, if the Court finds the SDT encompasses communications with

the press about Dr. Luke generally (and it should not, as discussed above).

Finally, the request should also be denied under Liberty Petroleum. 164 A.D.3d at 405.

As it was decided after the Discovery Order, the Court did not consider this standard, which now

governs and precludes any further order requiring production. Brummer v Wey, No. 153583/2015,

2019 WL 3891177, at *2 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Aug. 19, 2019) (denying motion to compel attorneys’

document production under Liberty Petroleum). In fact, though Liberty Petroleum holds that

discovery from an attorney must be “[un]available from another source,” the Discovery Order

explicitly rejected that standard. See id.; Dkt. 795 at 1-2 (“not a valid objection that information

available from other sources”); 164 A.D.3d at 405-407. Here, the press statements Dr. Luke seeks

are available from multiple other sources, including three different public relations agencies he

subpoenaed as well as media outlets. He has failed to carry the high burden of showing the

information he wants cannot be obtained from non-attorneys.

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DATED: December 5, 2019


New York, New York

By: By: / AM.


7
QUINN EMANUEL URQUHART & WILSON ELSER MOSKOWITZ
SULLIVAN, LLP EDELMAN & DICKER LLP
Robert L. Raskopf Jura Zibas
Cory D. Struble jura.zibas@wilsonelser.com
robertraskopf@quinnemanuel .com 150 East 42nd Street
corystruble@quinnemanuel.com New York, New York
51 Madison Avenue, 22nd Floor (212) 490-3000
New York, New York 10010
(212) 849-7000 -and-

THOMAS & LOCICERO PL


Attorneys for Non-party Mark Geragos Gregg D. Thomas (pro hac vice pending)
James J. McGuire (pro hac vice pending)
Mark. R. Caramanica (pro hac vice pending)
gthomas@tlolawfirm.com
jmcguire@tlolawfirm.com
mcaramanica@tlolawfirm.com
601 South Boulevard
Tampa, Florida 33606
(813)984-3060

Attorneys for Non-party Geragos & Geragos,


A Professional Corporation

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ATTORNEY CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO COMMERCIAL DIVISION RULE 17

I, Robert L. Raskopf, an attorney duly admitted to practice law before the courts of the State

of New York, hereby certify that this Memorandum of Law in Opposition to Plaintiff’s Proposed

Order to Show Cause for Sanctions and Contempt complies with the word count limits set forth in

Rule 17 of the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court (22 NYCRR 202.70(g)) because it

contains 6,978 words, excluding the parts of the memorandum exempted by Rule 17. In preparing

this certification, I have relied on the word count of the word-processing system used to prepare

this memorandum of law.

New York, New York


December 5, 2019

/s/ Robert L. Raskopf .


Robert L. Raskopf

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