Braiterman v. R M Equipment Inc

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
SHELDON H. BRAITERMAN; SHELDON
H. BRAITERMAN, PA,
Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v. No. 96-1799
R. M. EQUIPMENT, INCORPORATED;
RONALD J. MARTIN,
Defendants-Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore.
Edward S. Northrop, Senior District Judge.
(CA-93-126-N)
Argued: April 7, 1998
Decided: June 26, 1998
Before WIDENER and LUTTIG, Circuit Judges, and CHAMBERS,
United States District Judge for the Southern District of West
Virginia, sitting by designation.
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Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
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COUNSEL
ARGUED: Martin Eugene Wolf, Abingdon, Maryland, for Appel-
lants. Adam Shartzer Caldwell, JACKSON & CAMPBELL, P.C.,
Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellees. ON BRIEF: Sheldon H. Braiter-
man, SHELDON H. BRAITERMAN, P.A., Baltimore, Maryland, for
Appellants. Peter F. Axelrad, JACKSON & CAMPBELL, P.C., Balti-
more, Maryland, for Appellees.
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Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See
Local Rule 36(c).
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OPINION
PER CURIAM:
Plaintiff-appellant, Sheldon H. Braiterman, brought suit against
R.M. Equipment (owned by Ronald J. Martin), claiming that Martin
owed fees for legal services allegedly rendered by Braiterman
between January 1990 and the summer of 1992. After a seven-day
jury trial on appellant's claim, the jury returned a verdict in defen-
dant's favor. On appeal, Braiterman alleges that the jury verdict
should be overturned because the district court improperly denied
Braiterman's pre-trial Motion for Sanctions, which apparently
requested that the district court compel further deposition of Martin.*
This court has held that district court decisions regarding discovery
matters should "not be overturned unless there is a clear abuse of dis-
cretion, or unless there is a real possibility the party was prejudiced
by the denial" of discovery. Strag v. Board of Trustees, 55 F.3d 943,
954 (4th Cir. 1995); see also Ardrey v. United Parcel Service, 798
F.2d 679, 682 (4th Cir. 1986) (noting that "it is unusual to find an
abuse of discretion in discovery matters") (citation omitted). Having
reviewed the record and the submissions of the parties, we are con-
vinced that the district court did not abuse its discretion in refusing
to grant Braiterman further deposition of Martin.
The district court was in the best position to assess Braiterman's
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*Martin's counsel, Ms. Rothenberger, terminated the deposition of
Martin after a day and a half because she believed that Braiterman was
making inappropriate comments to her and her client.
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need for additional discovery in light of both the protracted discovery
that had already occurred, see District Court Order, J.A. at 323
(noting that "discovery was to have been concluded long ago" and
that it had been unduly protracted by the persistent"delay tactics" of
both parties), and the apparent inability of counsel for both sides to
conduct the deposition in a productive and professional manner, see
id., J.A. at 323 & n.1 (rejecting appellant's Motion for Sanctions
because the transcript of Martin's deposition thus far revealed "inap-
propriate behavior on the part of both counsel" and confirmed that
"each attorney's [inappropriate] conduct incited that of the other").
Moreover, Braiterman has failed to establish a real possibility that he
was prejudiced by the court's refusal to grant additional discovery.
Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court.
AFFIRMED
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