Vasquez v. Cal. Sch. of Culinary Arts, 230 Cal.App.4th 35(2014)

Key Insight: Trial court did not err in awarding plaintiffs their attorneys’ fees and costs incurred after successfully opposing Sallie Mae’s motion to quash subpoena, as Sallie Mae lacked substantial justification for its motion given that plaintiffs did not seek to have Sallie Mae extract and compile information from paper files but only asked that Sallie Mae extract ESI from an existing database, plaintiffs never expressed an unwillingness to pay for the reasonable cost of doing so but repeatedly asked for a cost estimate, and Sallie Mae ignored plaintiffs’ requests and did not provide a cost estimate until after its motion to quash had been denied and plaintiffs’ request for attorneys’ fees was being heard

Nature of Case: 1,034 former students asserted claims of fraud, breach of contract and violations of consumer laws

Electronic Data Involved: Loan records maintained by Sallie Mae