Jo Ann Howard & Assocs. v. Cassity, No. 4:09CV01252 ERW, 2013 WL 3788804 (E.D. Mo. July 19, 2013)
Key Insight: Alleged inadvertent production found to be waiver of privilege where the court found the production was voluntary (noting that the document had been produced twice and was clearly identified in the production log); found that reasonable precautions were not taken to prevent disclosure (citing the failure to label the document as privileged and the low number of other documents in the production and reasoning that blaming an error by the file room staff did not ?excuse? the failure to supervise production); and found that Defendants failed to take prompt measures to rectify the disclosure (citing the failure to claim privilege when asked for further details regarding the document in the course of discovery and the almost seventeen month delay between the ?first voluntary production? and the assertion of privilege)
Nature of Case: RICO, violations of fiduciary duty, gross negligence
Electronic Data Involved: Narrative summary of events composed by Defendant