July 14, 2006 – Electronic Discovery Law

E-Discovery and the Proposed Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure – Panel Discussion

Jul 14 2006

Preston Gates’ Helen Moure will be a panelist for this discussion forum scheduled from 12:15-1:15 PM on Tuesday, July 18, 2006, Rainier Square Conference Center, 1301 Fifth Avenue, Atrium Level 3 (between Fourth & Fifth and Union & University), Seattle, Washington. The session will feature The Honorable Ronald J. Hedges, United States Magistrate Judge, Newark, New Jersey and is co-sponsored by the Federal Bar Association of the Western District of Washington and the King County Bar Association.

Court Issues Order to Show Cause Regarding Possible Destruction of Documents; Ultimately Declines to Issue Adverse Inference Instruction

Jul 14 2006

Washington Alder LLC v. Weyerhaeuser Co., 2004 WL 4076674 (D. Or. May 5, 2004)

In this recently published opinion, the court set forth its corrected order to show cause why sanctions should not be imposed on Weyerhaeuser for failing to preserve electronic and paper records potentially relating to antitrust litigation after June 8, 1999, when Weyerhaeuser was notified of a forthcoming antitrust claim. Plaintiff claimed that Weyerhaeuser apparently did not issue a records retention order until April 2003, and that documents potentially relevant to the case – both electronic and paper – may have been destroyed prior to then, either deliberately or by failing to take the steps necessary to preserve those documents. Plaintiff asked the court to instruct the jury that it may draw an adverse inference from the destruction of documents.

Archive - July 14, 2006