Opinion ID: 1360551
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Mandamus Relief as to Discovery Issues

Text: The final matter for which the Company seeks mandamus relief is a generalized grievance that the district court is ruling on discovery issues in a one-sided manner in favor of Gooch. As evidence of this general observation, the Company points to several discrete instances, such as when the Court partially lifted a discovery stay for Gooch but not for the Company or when the Court ruled on Gooch's discovery motions within days and failed to rule on the Company's motions for months. Gooch contends that the Company is mischaracterizing the proceedings in the district court and that the Company has earned any discovery adversity that it may face by virtue of its supposedly abusive approach to discovery. But this is of little import because the Company has made no request for any particularized discovery relief amenable to our mandamus authority. In the context of discovery, mandamus is typically only available in those most extreme situations in which the district court has ordered a party to disclose something that it absolutely should not have to disclose. See, e.g., In re Prof'ls Direct Ins. Co., 578 F.3d at 443 (denying mandamus relief where party sought review of order requiring disclosure of information the party believed was protected by the work product doctrine); John B., 531 F.3d at 457 (granting mandamus relief when an erroneous discovery order likely would have required disclosure of confidential state information or private personal information unrelated to the lawsuit, and observing that [t]his court has recognized that mandamus may be used as a means of immediate appellate review of orders compelling the disclosure of documents and information claimed to be protected from disclosure by privilege or other interests in confidentiality) (citations and internal quotations omitted). In other words, there typically must be a discrete discovery ruling that we can look to and find to be so incorrect and prejudicial as to justify exercising our mandamus jurisdiction. Here, the Company does not point to any instances in which the district court has ordered it to produce information that is privileged or otherwise immune from disclosure. Nor does the Company point to any order denying it access to certain information. At most, the Company complains that the district court has thus far restricted its access to certain information, but there is no indication that the court has denied access to this information permanently, much less that this information is of such great magnitude to justify mandamus relief. Because we are not inclined to move into the practice of issuing generalized mandamus orders directing district courts to go forth and manage discovery correctly, we decline to grant the Company mandamus relief in this case.