November 2017 – Page 2 – Electronic Discovery Law

EEOC v. BDO USA, LLP (5th Cir., 2017)

Nov 16 2017

Key Insight: All communications between a company’s employees and its counsel are not per se privileged

Nature of Case: Workplace discrimination

Electronic Data Involved: Communications between counsel and others inside the company

Keywords: manifest purpose, per se privilege

View Case Opinion

Yoe v. Crescent Sock (E.D. Tenn. , 2017)

Nov 14 2017

Key Insight: was there a duty to preserve, were reasonable steps taken to avoid loss of data, can lost data be restored or replaced, was other party prejudiced by loss

Nature of Case: employment law, intellectual property

Electronic Data Involved: unknown

Keywords: spoliation, intent to deprive, relevance of data, measures no greater than necessary to cure the prejudice

View Case Opinion

Eaton-Stephens v. Grapevine Colleyville Indep. Sch. Dist., No. 16-11611, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 22704 (5th Cir. Nov. 13, 2017)

Nov 13 2017

Key Insight: Violation of a document retention rule is not per se bad faith.

Nature of Case: employment dispute

Electronic Data Involved: deleted electronic records

Keywords: document retention, rule violation, bad faith, spoliation, adverse inference

View Case Opinion

Padron v. Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York , Inc. (Cal. Ct. App., 4th District, 2017)

Nov 09 2017

Key Insight: Refusal to produce documents. Clergy-penitent privilege

Nature of Case: Negligence and failure to warn (Sexual Abuse)

Electronic Data Involved: letter,email, fax,ESI

Keywords: Willful refusal to comply with discovery order; Monetary sanctions; Judicial estoppel

Howard v. Northwestern Mem. Hosp. (Ill. App., 2017)

Nov 09 2017

Key Insight: Should a court order a new trial as a discovery sanction to a party’s failure to produce documents?

Nature of Case: Wrongful death

Electronic Data Involved: Health documents

Keywords: New trial, Discovery misconduct, seasonably supplement

Campbell v. Chadbourne & Parke LLP (Southern District of New York, 2017)

Nov 09 2017

Key Insight: conducting firm business on personal email accounts, employees’ personal email account will be subject to discovery if the employers allow them to mingle their work and personal email accounts.

Nature of Case: workplace discrimination, class action

Electronic Data Involved: personal email accounts, 115,000 documents, 2.5 terabytes of data of 25 custodians

Keywords: interspersing work and personal emails, overlap, spoliation, pay discrimination, wrongful termination

View Case Opinion

Love v. City of Chicago (N.D. Ill., 2017)

Nov 07 2017

Key Insight: Applying the former version of Rule 37(e), because the current version is not retroactive, there is no duty to preserve regularly overwritten business audio recordings absent notice to do so.

Nature of Case: Many, including unlawful arrest

Electronic Data Involved: telephone recordings and video and audio

Keywords: duty to preserve, spoliation sanctions,

View Case Opinion

Lee v. Trees, Inc. (District of Oregon, 2017)

Nov 06 2017

Key Insight: Fabricated evidence leads to terminating sanctions

Nature of Case: Employment discrimination, sexual harassment

Electronic Data Involved: Text messages

Keywords: dismissed with prejudice, fabrication, title VII, termination sanctions

View Case Opinion

Archive - November 2017