Matthew Bender & Company, Inc. Plaintiff and HyperLaw, Inc. Plaintiff Intervenor
v.
West Publishing Co.
HyperLaw, Inc. was a Plaintiff-Intevenor in the case, having moved to intervene shortly after the case was initiated in February, 1994, by Matthew Bender & Co.
The case was initially assigned to Judge Preska, and then was transferred to Judge John S. Martin Jr. after HyperLaw moved to recuse Judge Preska.
West sought to dismiss the case against both Matthew Bender and HyperLaw because of a lack of case or controversy. A Bench Trial on this "justiciability" issue as to HyperLaw, and HyperLaw prevailed.
Motions were then filed by Matthew Bender and HyperLaw for summary judgment on the citation issue, which motions were granted.
HyperLaw alone moved for summary judgment on the issue of West's claims to a copyright in their enhanced versions of the text of court opinions. A trial was held on the text issue, and the District Court issued a ruling in favor of HyperLaw. The two decisions were appealed to the Second Circuit, and West lost both. West brought in Professor Arthur Miller to argue the appeals.
Matthew Bender did not participate in the text motion, trial, appeal thereof to the Second Circuit, and petition to the US Supreme Court. Soon thereafter, Matthew Bender was acquired by Reed Elsevier, which also owns Lexis. Reed Elsevier filed an amicus brief in the Second Circuit on the text issue, opposing HyperLaw. Interestingly, the United States Department of Justice filed an amicus brief supporting Matthew Bender and HyperLaw on the citation issue, but refused to submit an amicus brief on the text issue.
HyperLaw moved for attorneys fees and was awarded more than $800,000 in fees. West appealed (actually twice, the second time after a remand) and won, so, HyperLaw received no attorneys fees.
Second Circuit Text Decision: Matthew Bender v. West,
158 F. 3d 674 (2nd Cir. 1998), aff'g, No. 94 Civ. 0589, 1997 WL 266972 (S.D.N.Y. May 19, 1997), cert. denied sub. nom. West v. Hyperlaw, 526 U.S. 1154 (1999).
Second Circuit Citation Opinion: Matthew Bender v. West Publishing Co., 158 F.3d 693 (2d Cir. 1998), cert. denied, 526 U.S. 1154 (1999), The Second Circuit affirmed a summary order dated March 12, 1997 re a bench opinion granting summary judgment on citation issues to Matthew Bender and HyperLaw dated November 22, 1996.
There is an excellent discussion of this case at the web site of Carl Hartmann, lead attorney for HyperLaw.
Following are selected pleadings, decisions, and transcripts related to the case.
Selected Pleadings updated May 2, 2008
Date | Filing | Court | Type | Issue |
Mar 9, 1994 | HyperLaw Complaint With Exhibits | SDNY 94-589 |
Complaint | |
Mar 9, 1994 | HyperLaw Complaint Without Exhibits | SDNY 94-589 |
Complaint | |
Feb 2, 1995 | Note Re West and Matthew Bender Ending Settlement Discussions Announced at Court Hearing | SDNY 94-589 |
||
Mar 16, 1995 | Preska Memorandum and Order Recusal 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3280 |
SDNY 94 Civ. 0589 |
Opinion | Recusal |
May 1, 1996 |
Judge Martin Opinion re Justiciability of Bender and Hyperlaw Claim |
SDNY 94-589 |
Decision |
Justiciability |
May 13, 1996 |
SDNY 94-589 |
Brief |
Justiciability |
|
May 25, 1996 |
SDNY 94-589 |
Brief |
Justiciability |
|
Aug 5, 1996 |
SDNY 94-589 |
Brief |
Citation |
|
Aug 5, 1996 |
SDNY 94-589 |
Opinion |
Justiciability |
|
May 1, 1996 | Judge Martin Opinion Re Justiciability I | SDNY 94-589 |
Opinion | Justiciability |
Sep 24, 1996 | Sugarman Affidavit in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment re Text | SDNY 94-589 |
Affidavit Motion | Text |
Sep 24, 1996 | SDNY 94-589 |
Brief | Text | |
Nov 4, 1996 | Sugarman Reply Affidavit Re Text | SDNY 94-589 |
Affidavit Motion | Text |
Nov 4, 1996 |
SDNY 94-589 |
Brief |
Text and Citation |
|
Nov 22, 1996 | Judge Martin Bench Opinion Denying HyperLaw Motion for SJ Because of Disputed Issues of Fact and Setting Trial | SDNY 94-589 |
Opinion | Citation and Text |
Nov 22, 1996 |
SDNY 94-589 |
Transcript |
Citation and Text |
|
Nov 29, 1996 |
SDNY 94-589 |
Docket |
|
|
Jan 27-28 1997 |
Transcript of Trial of HyperLaw Challenge to Text - Judge Martin |
SDNY 94-589 |
Transcript |
Text |
Mar 4, 1997 |
SDNY 94-589 |
Brief |
|
|
Mar 12, 1997 | Memorandum Order Granting Summary Judgment to Matthew Bender and HyperLaw on the Issue of Citations. 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2710 |
SDNY 94-589 |
Opinion | |
May 19, 1997 |
District Court, Martin, J. - HyperLaw Text Claims 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6915; 42 U.S.P.Q.2D (BNA) 1930; Copy. L. Rep. (CCH) P27,638; 25 Media L. Rep. 1856 (S.D.N.Y. 1997). |
SDNY 94-589 |
Opinion |
|
Sep 29, 1997 |
2nd Cir. 97-7910 |
Brief |
Text Appeal |
|
Sep 29, 1997 |
Reed Elsevier Amicus Brief on Appeal in support of West claims re text |
2nd Cir. 97-7910. |
Brief |
Text Appeal |
Oct 3, 1997 |
DOJ
Amicus Brief re Citation DOJ web site |
2nd Cir. 97-7430 |
Brief |
Citation |
Jan 30, 1998 |
2nd Cir. 97-7910 |
Brief |
Text Appeal |
|
Feb.3, 1998 |
2nd Cir. 97-7910 |
Brief |
Text |
|
Nov 3, 1998 | Second Circuit Text Opinion 158 F.3d 674 (2d Cir. 1998) | 2nd Cir. 97-7910 |
Opinion | Text |
Nov 3, 1998 | Second Circuit Citation Opinion 158 F.3d 693 (2d Cir. 1998) | 2nd Cir. 97-7430 |
Opinion |
Citation |
Dec 16, 1999 | Martin, J., Opinion Awarding Attorneys Fees to HyperLaw I | SDNY 94-589 |
Opinion | Attorneys Fees |
Apr 20, 2000 | District Court Docket Sheet as of April 20, 2000 | SDNY 94-589 |
Docket | |
Jan 23, 2001 | Second Circuit Attorneys Fees I Opinion | 2nd Cir. 00-7029 00-7070 |
Opinion | Attorneys Fees |
Jul 2, 2001 | Martin, J., Opinion On Remand Awarding Attorneys Fees to HyperLaw III | SDNY 94 Civ. 589 |
Opinion | Attorneys Fees |
Jul 17, 2002 | Summary Order En Banc Second Circuit | 2nd Cir. | Opinion | Attorneys Fees |
Jul 29, 2002 | Petition for Rehearing En Banc | 2nd Cir. | Brief |
Matthew Bender & Company, Inc. Plaintiff
and
HyperLaw, Inc.
Plaintiff Intervenor
v.
West Publishing Co.
See Below
Why is there confusion as to the existence of two, not one decisions in the Matthew Bender case.
David Nimmer, a copyright law expert, who was one of the attorneys for Matthew Bender, discusses the Second Circuit cases in:
Mr. Nimmer, who was one of the counsel for Matthew Bender, conflates the two decisions and Matthew Bender's role. The discussion in the Dead Sea article is primarily about the text case.
Matthew Bender intentionally did not pursue the text claims.
In 1996, Reed Elsevier (which owned Lexis) and Matthew Bender were in acquisistion discussion The acquistion that formally took place in April 1998.
Reed Elsevier actually opposed the HyperLaw text claim and filed a amicus brief opposing HyperLaw..