Schnabel

This action arises from a partnership gone awry. Peter Schnabel, Steven Marble, Kevin Lui, and the various entities respectively controlled by them entered a partnership agreement to produce “simulation” attractions for an amusement park in mainland China. As the project progressed, Schnabel and Marble became increasingly disenchanted with the acts and omissions taken of Lui and the entities associated with him. Schnabel and Marble, et al., filed suit in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Shortly thereafter, Lui and various entities filed suit against Marble, et al., in California Superior Court, in and for Los Angeles County. Marble removed the state court action to federal court, based on diversity jurisdiction. The two suits were consolidated, as the removed action was essentially a counterclaim to the claims initially brought in federal court. After an extensive history of discovery abuses by Lui and his entities, the district court dismissed the claims in the removed complaint, struck the defendants’ answer to the original complaint, and deemed admitted all of the original plaintiffs’ requests for admission. At a bench trial on damages,…