Gregory Berry, Appellant-Cross-Appellee, v. UMG LLC (2018)

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

Dwayne D. WALKER, Jr., Plaintiff-Appellant-Cross-Appellee, Gregory Berry, Appellant-Cross-Appellee, v. Kareem BURKE, “Biggs”, Defendant-Appellee, Shawn Carter, “Jay-Z,” Damon Dash, “Dame,” UMG Recordings, Inc., Island Def Jam Music Group, Roc-A-Fella Records, LLC, Defendants-Appellees-Cross-Appellants.†

17-2483-cv

Decided: October 11, 2018

PRESENT: José A. Cabranes, Barrington D. Parker, Circuit Judges, Kiyo A. Matsumoto, District Judge.*

FOR PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT-CROSS-APPELLEE DWAYNE D. WALKER AND APPELLANT-CROSS-APPELLEE GREGORY BERRY: Gregory Berry, Law Office of Gregory Berry, St. Paul, MN. FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLEE-CROSS-APPELLANT SHAWN CARTER: Eleanor M. Lackman, (Scott J. Sholder, Cowan Debaets Abrahams & Sheppard LLP, New York, NY on the brief), Cowan Debaets Abrahams & Sheppard LLP, New York, NY. FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLEE-CROSS-APPELLANT DAMON DASH: Dale Lionel Smith, Dale Lionel Smith, Attorney at Law, New York, NY. FOR DEFENDANTS-APPELLEES-CROSS-APPELLANTS UMG RECORDINGS, INC., ISLAND DEF JAM MUSIC GROUP, AND ROC-A-FELLA RECORDS, LLC: Cynthia A. Arato, Shapiro and Arato LLP, New York, NY.

SUMMARY ORDER

Plaintiff-Appellant-Cross-Appellee Dwayne D. Walker (“Walker”) appeals a judgment of the District Court granting summary judgment to Defendants-Appellees-Cross-Appellants Shawn Carter, Damon Dash, UMG Recordings, Inc., Island Def Jam Music Group, and Roc-A-Fella Records, LLC (jointly, “Defendants”). Walker also appeals the District Court's order denying reconsideration of its judgment. In addition, Walker and his attorney, Gregory Berry (“Berry”), appeal several of the District Court's orders concerning its imposition of sanctions on Walker and Berry for discovery-related misconduct. Defendants, for their part, appeal an order of the District Court denying attorney's fees and additional sanctions. We assume the parties’ familiarity with the underlying facts, the procedural history of the case, and the issues on appeal.

After reviewing the record, we affirm the District Court's judgment and orders for substantially the reasons stated by the District Court and Magistrate Judge. See Walker v. Carter, No. 12-CV-5384 (ALC)(RLE), 2015 WL 9450843 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 23, 2015) (Ellis, U.S.M.J.) (imposing sanctions); Walker v. Carter, No. 12-CV-5384 (ALC)(RLE), 2016 WL 6820722 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 29, 2016) (Ellis, U.S.M.J.) (setting amount of sanctions); Walker v. Carter, 210 F.Supp.3d 487, 499-508 (S.D.N.Y. 2016) (granting summary judgment); Walker v. Carter, No. 12-CV-5384 (ALC)(RLE), 2017 WL 3668585 (S.D.N.Y. July 12, 2017) (overruling objections to sanctions); Walker v. Carter, No. 12-CV-5384 (ALC)(RLE), 2017 WL 3641707 (S.D.N.Y. July 12, 2017) (denying reconsideration of grant of summary judgment); Walker v. Carter, No. 12-CV-5384 (ALC)(RLE), 2017 WL 3738448 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 3, 2017) (denying attorney's fees and additional sanctions).

We have reviewed all of the arguments raised by the parties on appeal and find them to be without merit. For the foregoing reasons, we AFFIRM the September 26, 2016 judgment and December 23, 2015, August 29, 2016, July 12, 2017, and August 3, 2017 orders of the District Court.

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