November 30, 2007 – Electronic Discovery Law

The Biggest Data Disaster Ever

Nov 30 2007

From The Red Tape Chronicles, Posted: Friday, November 30 at 05:15 am CT by Bob Sullivan:

"It’s being called the worst data leak of the information age. Earlier this month, U.K. officials had to admit they’d lost hard drives containing personal information on almost half the country’s population, including nearly all families with children. If that’s not bad enough, the databases included the worst kind of information to lose — consumer bank account numbers.

It’s a data scandal fit for tabloids. The price tag put on the loss is already $500 million. Prime Minister Gordon Brown had to issue a public apology, and the head of Britain’s Revenue and Customs office was forced to resign. The U.S. audience might have missed the initial news because the story broke during the Thanksgiving holiday. But the obvious question floating across the Pond is this: Could something that dramatic happen in the United States?

Yes, most experts say. And the consequences here would be even worse."

Click here to read the full article.

Court Defers Ruling on Defense Request to Inspect Hard Drives and for Sanctions, Ordering Plaintiff to Submit Affidavit Detailing Why Certain Emails were “Unloadable” and Efforts Taken to Retrieve the Information

Nov 30 2007

U & I Corp. v. Advanced Med. Design, Inc., 2007 WL 4181900 (M.D. Fla. Nov. 26, 2007)

In this breach of contract case, plaintiff sought a protective order blocking the production of documents by a non-party in response to defendant’s subpoena. The court found that plaintiff had not established good cause for the protective order, in part because the time frame of the requests was reasonable. The court also noted that, because plaintiff’s 2004 emails were allegedly unavailable (discussed below), defendant had no other way to obtain some of the information. The court thus denied the motion for protective order; it also denied the non-party’s motion to quash, which was based on general relevancy and (unsupported) undue burden arguments.

At the same time, defendant sought an order compelling plaintiff to produce the hard drives of certain employees for inspection by an independent expert, and to produce all responsive 2004 emails. Defendant also sought various sanctions for plaintiff’s alleged failure to produce the material in accordance with the court’s prior order on the subject.

Plaintiff responded that it had produced all responsive documents in its possession. However, it explained that, due to a computer error following a server change that occurred prior to litigation, its 2004 emails were "unloadable.” It also claimed that it had no hard copies of any 2004 emails. As such, plaintiff contended that it could not produce any 2004 emails.

Archive - November 30, 2007