Home | Prior HL Site | HyperLaw v. West | History

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