2005 – Page 18 – Electronic Discovery Law

Court Upholds $2,442,440.97 in Discovery Abuse Sanctions

Jan 10 2005

Nartron Corp. v. General Motors Corp., 2005 WL 26991 (Mich. Ct. App. Jan. 6, 2005) (unpublished)

In a prior appeal, the court affirmed the trial judge’s order granting summary judgment dismissing plaintiff’s breach of contract claim and dismissing with prejudice plaintiff’s remaining claims as a sanction for discovery abuses. See Nartron Corp. v. Gen. Motors Corp., 2003 WL 1985261 (Mich. Ct. App. Apr. 29, 2003) (unpublished). Thereafter, the trial court entered judgment ordering plaintiff to pay costs and sanctions in the amount of $2,442,440.97, representing $1,912,630.66 in attorneys’ fees, $159,542.10 in legal assistant fees, $361,641.71 in expert witness fees, and additional costs for the special discovery master. The trial court further ordered plaintiff to pay prejudgment interest in the amount of $1,708,515.77, for a total judgment of $4,150,956.24.

Summary Judgment for Defendants Ends Rowe Entm’t, Inc.

Jan 10 2005

Rowe Entm’t, Inc. v. The William Morris Agency, Inc., 2005 WL 22833 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 5, 2005)

The court recently granted summary judgment for the defendants in this seminal E-discovery cost-shifting case, having concluded that plaintiffs “raised no genuine issue of material fact and that no rational trier of fact could find for plaintiffs on any of the myriad of claims made in this action.” Plaintiffs were concert promoters who claimed that booking agencies and other promoters had engaged in discriminatory and anti-competitive practices.

Microsoft Corporation Comments on Proposed Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

Jan 07 2005

Microsoft Vice President & Deputy General Counsel Tom Burt recently submitted comments and a visual diagram to the Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, which is currently accepting public comment regarding the proposed amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure addressing electronic discovery. Gregory S. McCurdy, Senior Attorney at Microsoft, will also be testifying before the Advisory Committee on January 12, 2005, in San Francisco at the first of three public hearings. Subsequent hearings are being held in Dallas, Texas, on January 28, 2005, and in Washington, D.C., on February 11, 2005.

Written Comments to the Federal Civil Rules Available Online

Jan 06 2005

Written comments to the proposed Federal Civil Rules amendments relating to electronic discovery have been posted on the U.S. Courts website.

Ten Tips For Electronic Discovery: Judge Shira A. Scheindlin Speaks On Proposed Rules Changes And Surviving E-Discovery Without Sanctions

Jan 06 2005

The rules of civil procedure are once again being amended, this time to update them for document production in the digital age. Judge Shira A. Scheindlin talks about what the proposed changes will mean for in-house counsel. She also gives advice and her top ten tips on conducting e-discovery in the current murky shadow of Rule 26, to avoid garnering sanctions for inadvertently violating a discovery order, or worse yet charges of spoliation of evidence. [Subscription to the ACC Docket required.]

Archive - 2005