Archive - December 1, 2014

1
Wis. Resources Protection Council v. Flambeau Mining Co., No. 11-cv-45-bbc, 2014 WL 3810884 (W.D. Wis. Aug. 1, 2014)
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L-3 Commc?ns Corp. v. Jaxon Eng?g & Maintenance, Inc., No. 10?cv?02868?MSK?KMT, 2014 WL 3732943 (D. Colo. July 29, 2014)
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FDIC v. Bowden, No. CV413-245, 2014 WL 2548137 (S.D. Ga. June 6, 2014)
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Tedeschi v. Kason Credit Corp, No. 3:10CV00612 DJS, 2014 WL 1491173 (D. Conn. Apr. 15, 2014)
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In re Warrant to Search a Certain Email Account Controlled and Maintained by Microsoft Corporation, No. 13 Mag. 2814, 2014 WL 1661004 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 25, 2014)
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Fasteners for Retail, Inc. v. DeJohn, No. 100333, 2014 WL 1669132 (Ohio Ct. App. Apr. 24, 2014)
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Sprint Commc?ns Co., L.P. v. Comcast Cable Commc?ns, LLC, Nos. 11-2684-JWL, 11-2685-JWL, 11-2686-JWL, 2014 WL 1794552 (D. Kan. May 6, 2014)
8
Peerless Ind., Inc. v. Crimson AV LLC, No. 11 C 1768, 2014 WL 3497697 (N.D. Ill. July 14, 2014)
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Slep-Tone Entm?t Corp. v. Granito, No. CV 12-298 TUC DCB, 2014 WL 65297 (D. Ariz. Jan. 8, 2014)
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E.A.F.F. v. United States, No. SA-08-CA-124-XR, 2014 WL 1652598 (W.D. Tex. Apr. 23, 2014)

Wis. Resources Protection Council v. Flambeau Mining Co., No. 11-cv-45-bbc, 2014 WL 3810884 (W.D. Wis. Aug. 1, 2014)

Key Insight: Court overruled plaintiffs? objection to clerk?s ruling on defendant?s bill of costs to the extent it awarded defendant taxable costs associated with retrieving computer information, noting that defendant sought reimbursement of only the costs incurred in the extraction endeavor — not for help in reviewing the documents; finding the request reasonable, the court observed: “Plaintiffs asked Defendant for 20 years of information from defendant?s mine site in Ladysmith, Wisconsin. Given the nature of the information storage over this period of time, it was reasonable, if not essential, for defendant to employ an expert third-party forensic expert to extract the information.?

Nature of Case: Environmental damage to the Flambeau River

Electronic Data Involved: 20 years of information

L-3 Commc?ns Corp. v. Jaxon Eng?g & Maintenance, Inc., No. 10?cv?02868?MSK?KMT, 2014 WL 3732943 (D. Colo. July 29, 2014)

Key Insight: Where special master was appointed to review tens of thousands of documents listed on defendants? privilege log and issue a report and order after determining, as to each document, whether the document was subject to a claim of work product, attorney-client privilege, spousal privilege or ?so intensely personal and so utterly irrelevant that they should be withheld from production,? district court painstakingly reviewed special master’s report de novo with respect to specified documents subject to objection by the parties and made final rulings

Nature of Case: Misappropriation of trade secrets

Electronic Data Involved: ESI stored on computer hard drives

Tedeschi v. Kason Credit Corp, No. 3:10CV00612 DJS, 2014 WL 1491173 (D. Conn. Apr. 15, 2014)

Key Insight: Court denied plaintiff’s motion for adverse inference based on defendant’s failure to preserve printouts from its computer system, finding that defendant did not have a duty to preserve printouts so long as the electronic files themselves were preserved

Nature of Case: Claims under Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

Electronic Data Involved: Printed fact sheets that showed collection activity maintained on defendant’s computer system

In re Warrant to Search a Certain Email Account Controlled and Maintained by Microsoft Corporation, No. 13 Mag. 2814, 2014 WL 1661004 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 25, 2014)

Key Insight: Court denied Microsoft’s motion to quash search warrant that directed Microsoft to produce the contents of one of its customer’s emails stored on a server located in Dublin, Ireland, concluding that, even when applied to information that is stored in servers abroad, an SCA warrant does not violate the presumption against extraterritorial application of American law; in reaching its decision, court analyzed structure of the SCA, its legislative history, and practical consequences that would flow from such an interpretation

Nature of Case: Motion to quash warrant issued under Section 2703(a) of the Stored Communications Act

Electronic Data Involved: Email stored on Internet Service Provider’s server located in Dublin, Ireland

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Fasteners for Retail, Inc. v. DeJohn, No. 100333, 2014 WL 1669132 (Ohio Ct. App. Apr. 24, 2014)

Key Insight: Trial court abused its discretion in ordering forensic imaging of defendants’ computer hard drives, as record did not demonstrate that documents plaintiff sought were being unlawfully withheld by defendants and not available from plaintiff’s own information or other sources, and in failing to set out an appropriate protocol to govern the forensic imaging process and protect defendants’ confidential information and preserve any private or privileged information

Nature of Case: Patent infringement, false advertising, misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of employment agreements

Electronic Data Involved: Computer hard drives

Peerless Ind., Inc. v. Crimson AV LLC, No. 11 C 1768, 2014 WL 3497697 (N.D. Ill. July 14, 2014)

Key Insight: District court judge adopted magistrate judge’s 2/27/2014 Report and Recommendations, except to the extent it found plaintiff had complied with prior discovery orders, and as sanction for failure to comply with orders, ordered plaintiff to pay defendants’ reasonable expenses and attorneys’ fees associated with briefing and hearings; judge further adopted in full magistrate judge’s 3/13/2014 Report and Recommendation which found that defendant failed to preserve or produce all documents it should have and recommended burden-shifting sanction rather than adverse inference instruction; judge awarded plaintiff its reasonable expenses and attorneys’ fees associated with its motion for sanctions

Nature of Case: Patent infringement and various violations of Illinois law

Electronic Data Involved: ESI

Slep-Tone Entm?t Corp. v. Granito, No. CV 12-298 TUC DCB, 2014 WL 65297 (D. Ariz. Jan. 8, 2014)

Key Insight: Where defendant used special software to erase computer hard drives that allegedly contained infringing karaoke accompaniment tracks marked with plaintiffs’ registered trademarks, court determined that defendant acted willfully in destroying the evidence, which he knew to be especially relevant, and that his admitted spoliation of evidence severely impaired the plaintiffs’ ability to litigate the case; accordingly, court denied defendant?s motion for summary judgment based on lack of evidence, and granted summary judgment for plaintiffs on issue of liability, instructing that plaintiffs must still prove up damages

Nature of Case: Trademark and tradedress infringement

Electronic Data Involved: Unauthorized counterfeit duplicates of karaoke accompaniment tracks on hard drives

E.A.F.F. v. United States, No. SA-08-CA-124-XR, 2014 WL 1652598 (W.D. Tex. Apr. 23, 2014)

Key Insight: Rejecting plaintiff’s challenge to $65,000 for scanning expenses as taxable costs where discovery production was voluminous and parties had agreed that defendants would produce their responsive documents in electronic format, court ruled that scanning of documents to create digital duplicates amounted to “making copies of materials” under Section 1920(4); however, because invoices indicated that requested costs may include more than just scanning, court would allow defendants to supplement bill of costs to specifically identify which portion of invoice was for scanning/making copies or to clarify that the entire cost was, in fact, for scanning/making copies

Nature of Case: Unaccompanied alien minors brought action against Office of Refugee Resettlement alleging they were physically and sexually abused while in detention awaiting final adjudication of their immigration status

Electronic Data Involved: Electronic images of paper documents

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