Judge Laura Taylor Swain
This case arose out of plaintiffs' allegations that defendants, functioning as plaintiffs' agents in the art market, defrauded plaintiffs, breached the contract between the parties, breached their fiduciary duty, and engaged in unfair and deceptive trade practices by misrepresenting the discounts that defendants purportedly provided to plaintiffs in the sales of 110 works of art. Defendants filed an objection to a magistrate judge's order granting the discovery for the cost data for the 110 works of art. Defendants argued the cost data was not relevant and thus was not properly the subject of a discovery order. The court found the magistrate judge's determination—that the cost data for the 110 works of art sold to plaintiffs fell within the broad definition of relevance and should be produced—was neither clearly erroneous nor contrary to the law. The court noted the magistrate judge had carefully considered defendants' arguments multiple times apparently because defendants had raised the arguments contained in their objection multiple times over the course of the litigation. Accordingly the court overruled defendants' objections and ordered them to produce the cost data for the 110 transactions, pursuant to the magistrate judge's order.
