Last month, District Judge Rodney Gilstrap of the Eastern District of Texas denied an attempt to compel Fleet Connect Solutions LLC—a plaintiff associated with the monetization firm Empire IP LLC—to produce litigation funding agreements related to the NPE’s patent suit against Waste Connections. Calling the defendant’s demand for such documents “a fishing expedition”, Judge Gilstrap found that Waste Connections failed to show that litigation funding agreements are relevant to any claim or defense in the case.