D.C. Circuit Affirms Sanctions against Non-Party for Failure to Comply with Deadline in Stipulated Discovery Order

In a January D.C. Circuit appellate opinion, In re Fannie Mae Securities Litigation, _ F.3d _, 2009 WL 21528 (C.A.D.C., Jan. 6, 2009), the court addressed the consequences of entering into a stipulated order designed to resolve some of the problems encountered over the course of complying with a subpoena issued under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45.

Specifically, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) appealed from a contempt order of the U.S. District Court in D.C. for failing to comply with a discovery deadline to which it agreed. The D.C. Circuit upheld the sanctions, finding that OFHEO had voluntarily bound itself to the terms of a stipulated discovery order and thus sanctions were appropriate for its violation, even though OFHEO was not a party to the underlying litigation and had spend over $6 million trying to comply with the order.

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