John David v. The Hooker, Ltd Hooker Music, Ltd., Ronald Haffkine, Non-Party

FACTS:

On January 2, 1974, John David brought a breach of contract action in federal court based on diversity against Hooker Music, Ltd. (“Hooker Music”), a New York corporation. 1 Ronald Haffkine is the president, managing agent and sole officer of Hooker Music.

*415 On November 4, 1974, during pre-trial discovery, Hooker Music was found by the United States Magistrate to have failed to fully comply with a court order to produce materials and to 'answer plaintiff’s initial set of interrogatories. The United States Magistrate ordered, inter alia, the defendant to answer the interrogatories by November 18, 1974. The district court adopted the order of the magistrate on December 5, 1974, but modified it to provide that the answers were to be filed by December 16, 1974.

On November 26, 1974, Hooker Music filed a petition in bankruptcy and was adjudicated a bankrupt on November 29, 1974. On December 17, 1974, after failing to answer the interrogatories, 3 the defendant filed a motion to stay the action due to the bankruptcy petition as automatically provided for in Rule 401 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure (“FRBP”). 4 On January 9, 1975, the district court granted the…

concurring and dissenting:

I concur in all aspects of the opinion except that relating to the amount of the award made to plaintiff under Rule 37(b)(2), F.R.Civ.P. While I entertain no doubt that plaintiff is entitled to an award of expenses and reasonable attorneys’ fees for the disobedience of Haffkine, there is simply no factual support in the record before us for the assessment of $2,000.00. Therefore, I would remand on this issue for further proceedings.

560 F.2d 412 John DAVID, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. The HOOKER, LTD; Hooker Music, Ltd., Defendant, Ronald Haffkine, Non-Party Defendant-Appellant. No. 75-2444. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Sept. 6, 1977. Alan B. Axelrod, Axelrod, Blum & Lerch, San Francisco, Cal., for non-party defendant-appellant. Neil Boorstyn, Mill Valley, Cal., for plaintiff-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Before BARNES and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges, and CRAIG, District Judge. * BARNES, Circuit Judge: FACTS: 1 On January 2, 1974, John David brought a breach of contract action in federal court based on diversity against Hooker Music, Ltd. ("Hooker Music"), a New York corporation. 1 Ronald Haffkine is the president, managing agent and sole officer of Hooker Music. 2 2 On November 4, 1974, during pre-trial discovery, Hooker Music was found by the United States Magistrate to have failed to fully comply with a court order to produce materials and to answer plaintiff's initial set of interrogatories. The United States Magistrate ordered, inter alia, the defendant to answer the interrogatories by November 18, 1974. The district court…