Key Insight: Wife’s acts of removing laptop from family home and delivering it to her attorney for safekeeping were not wrongful; court established protocol for inspection and production
Nature of Case: Divorce proceeding
Electronic Data Involved: Financial data stored on laptop provided by husband’s employer
Key Insight: Fed. R. Civ. P. 30(b)(6) depositions re computer systems and data allowed to precede merits discovery
Nature of Case: Antitrust class action
Electronic Data Involved: Information re data, hardware, software of each defendant
Key Insight: Court granted ex parte application for TRO and related relief in order to locate and recover stolen information, and ordered return of laptops and “bit stream copying” of defendants’ computers to preserve deleted data
Nature of Case: Financial services company sued former employees for conspiring to steal confidential and proprietary information and unfair competition
Electronic Data Involved: Client databases and other proprietary information
Key Insight: After audiotapes which had not been produced by defendants came to light, court granted plaintiff’s Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(3) motion to vacate earlier summary judgment dismissing tortious interference with prospective business relations claim, and re-opened discovery for 30 days to allow expedited inquiry re discrete issues related to revived claim
Nature of Case: Tortious interference with contract and prospective business relations
Electronic Data Involved: Six audiotapes containing discussions between key players
Key Insight: Subpoena seeking non-party’s software trade secrets enforced since trade secrets were relevant and necessary to patent suit and need for information outweighed possible injury to third party
Nature of Case: Patent infringement
Electronic Data Involved: Software trade secrets of third party
Key Insight: Default judgment entered against defendant and attorneys’ fees awarded to plaintiff, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 37, for defendant’s willful and intentional destruction of laptop presumably containing crucial evidence of defendant’s decoder key modification programs, sale records and customer lists
Nature of Case: Cable TV provider sued businessman for cable TV theft
Electronic Data Involved: Laptop
Key Insight: Texas Supreme Court denied defendant’s request for mandamus relief, finding that trial court did not abuse discretion in ordering production of backup tapes since defendant failed to support its objections as required by Tex. R. Civ. P. 193.4(a)
Nature of Case: Class action against web host alleging contract breach, negligence and violation of Deceptive Trade Practices Act
Electronic Data Involved: Backup tapes
Key Insight: Production of documents from litigation database without first conducting privilege review constituted inexcusable neglect and waived attorney-client privilege; inadvertent disclosure clause in governing protective order did not apply
Nature of Case: Environmental litigation
Electronic Data Involved: Memorandum selected from litigation database
Key Insight: Court denied BATF’s motion to quash subpoenas since firearms tracing and licensing data maintained by BATF in federal databases was relevant and would be subject to a confidentiality order, and disclosure of the data was not precluded by appropriations statute or by law enforcement privilege
Nature of Case: City and families of shooting victims sued manufacturers, distributors and retailers of weapons
Electronic Data Involved: Database maintained by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
Key Insight: Government’s motion for “protective order clarifying that it may produce email in response to discovery requests by producing from paper records of email messages rather than from backup tapes and may overwrite backup tapes in accordance with Departmental directives” denied as inappropriate given history of dispute; plaintiffs awarded attorneys’ fees and costs associated with motion
Nature of Case: Suit against the government alleging mismanagement of Indian trust funds
Electronic Data Involved: Email stored on backup tapes
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