Infoconomy.com sums up the case succinctly: “On 17 May, a Florida jury was told by the presiding judge that investment bank Morgan Stanley had to pay the full $604.3 million claim made against it by billionaire financier, Ronald Perelman, plus $850 million in punitive damages – not because the jury had been convinced by Perelman`s claim that Morgan Stanley has defrauded him ... but because Morgan Stanley failed repeatedly to locate and hand over e-mails deemed vital to Perelman`s case.”

The Wall Street Journal reports that Judge Elizabeth Maass essentially handed an automatic loss to Morgan Stanley  because “[discovery] abuses have continued unabated”.