Skadden Sanctioned Over 'Duplicative, Vexatious Litigation' - Above the Law

"If the filing of duplicative, vexatious litigation were allowed to escape sanction, the costs would exceed those imposed on the defendants here. Courts and other parties may be encouraged to undertake burdensome and duplicative litigation. The administration of justice would suffer."

"Everyone knows that if mom tells you no, it's not acceptable - even if tempting - to try to get approval from dad. It doesn't get any smarter if you replace mom and dad with the Southern District of New York and the Eastern District of Virginia."

"At that point, Papaya moved to amend those claims and filed an 'essentially identical' suit in Virginia. The Virginia action found its way back to New York and an understandably peeved Judge Cote."

Judge Denise L. Cote sanctioned Papaya Gaming and its counsel at Skadden for filing duplicative litigation across multiple federal districts. After Papaya's counterclaims were dismissed in the Southern District of New York, the company filed an essentially identical suit in the Eastern District of Virginia, attempting to circumvent the initial dismissal. The underlying dispute involved Papaya Gaming's use of undisclosed bots in real-money skill-based mobile gaming tournaments, which Skillz challenged through a Lanham Act false advertising claim. Papaya's litigation strategy, combined with its resistance to discovery through questionable legal arguments, demonstrated a pattern of abuse warranting sanctions despite the defendants' distinguished legal representation.

Read at Above the Law