Catagory:Case Summaries

In re NVMS, LLC, 2008 WL 4488963 (Bankr. M.D. Tenn. Mar. 21, 2008)

In this case, the debtor, a medical services company, moved for expedited discovery of information contained in the database of a former billing partner.  In July of 2000, the debtor contracted with MBP to handle the debtor’s billing.  In February 2008, the debtor stopped doing business with MBP and started using Practice Resources Network, Inc. (PRN).  After switching, the debtor requested that MBP provide the debtor with a copy of its billing data so the debtor could determine the status of its claims. MBP refused.  Soon after filing for bankruptcy in March 2008, the debtor filed an expedited motion seeking copies of this data from MBP.  MBP objected and filed a motion for a protective order.

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Hoover v. Fla. Hydro, Inc., 2008 WL 4467661 (E.D. La. 2008)

In this breach of contract case, Hoover moved to quash subpoenas issued by defendant to two non-parties:  Hoover’s mother and Hoover’s former roommate. The subpoena issued to Hoover’s mother requested inspection of her laptop or any electronic storage device “for documents copied, sent to, or received by her son” related to several entities, including the defendant.  The subpoena issued to the former roommate, Sanghani, also sought inspection of his laptop computer and any other electronic storage device or computer “that has any responsive documents.”  The subpoena further requested documents, “whether in paper form or electronically submitted,” between Hoover and Sanghani that referred to specific persons or topics.

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Koosharem Corp. v. Spec Personnel, LLC, 2008 WL 4458864 (D.S.C. Sept. 29, 2008)

In this breach of contract case, plaintiffs alleged that defendants wrongfully obtained and used confidential information from former employee, Kenneth Fuston, who went to work for the defendants.  Specifically, plaintiffs alleged that defendants used the information to hire approximately 20 of plaintiffs’ employees, open new offices in eight cities, and embark upon a new line of business in competition with plaintiffs.  Plaintiffs moved to compel production of computers believed to contain information related to those claims.  The court had previously granted a motion to compel and ordered defendants to produce emails to or from any current or former employee or customer of the plaintiff found on Fuston’s home computer and documents reflecting communication with the defendant and certain former employees of the plaintiff. Defendants produced 1,936 pages of email.  Believing the production was incomplete, plaintiffs brought a second motion to compel. 

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Pass & Seymour, Inc. v. Hubbell Inc., 2008 WL 4240490 (N.D.N.Y. Sept. 12, 2008)

In this patent infringement case, the court addressed the issue of whether, in response to 72 separate document requests, the plaintiff’s production in digital format of 405,367 pages of documents, apportioned among 202 unlabeled folders and which through application of litigation support software could be made text searchable, but was otherwise neither organized to correlate to the document demands nor in any fashion indexed or labeled to reflect how they were maintained in the ordinary course of plaintiff’s business, satisfied the responding party’s obligations under Rule 34 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.  Plaintiff asserted that, pursuant to FRCP 34, it had produced the documents in the manner in which they were maintained in the ordinary course of business and therefore need not indicate to which request the documents were responsive.  In support of its position, plaintiff offered only the statement of an attorney indicating that the documents had been assembled as they had been maintained.

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Kipperman v. Onex Corp., 2008 WL 4372005 (N.D. Ga. Sept. 19, 2008)

In this case, Onex presented several motions to the court, including a motion for a protective order and for relief from the need to produce all documents identified after searching several backup tapes.  The court denied in part and granted in part Onex’s motion, and ordered Onex to produce all identified documents, except for two specific categories deemed unlikely to contain relevant information.

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Dong Ah Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. v. Glasforms, Inc., 2008 WL 4298331 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 19, 2008)

In this breach of contract litigation over allegedly non-conforming goods, Glasforms moved for sanctions against third-party defendant Taishan Fiberglass for the spoliation and destruction of documents.  Taishan had previously been ordered to produce a knowledgeable and fully prepared witness or witnesses to testify about ten topics not adequately addressed in the prior Rule 30(b)(6) deposition.  In addition, Taishan was ordered to search for and produce all documents responsive to Glasform’s requests for production, including relevant internal email communications. 

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Law Office of Douglas T. Harris, Esq. v. Philadelphia Waterfront Partners, LP, 957 A.2d 1223, 2008 Pa. Super. 222 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2008)

In this case involving breach of fiduciary duty and related claims, plaintiff had requested the production of certain email and documents maintained on the computers of two individual defendants.  When defendants failed to produce the requested material, plaintiff moved to compel. At the hearing on the motion, defense counsel informed the court that the two computers were inoperable and that technicians were currently working on the computers.  The court pressed defense counsel for an explanation of how the computers were broken, and observed that plaintiff was entitled to the information that had been requested.  When the court asked defense counsel what order it should enter, defense counsel responded:  “We can produce the computers.”  After the court entered its order, defendants appealed.

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Goodbys Creek, LLC v. Arch Ins. Co., 2008 WL 4279693 (M.D. Fla. Sept. 15, 2008)

In this case involving the alleged breach of a performance bond, the court considered plaintiff’s motion to compel and for sanctions.  Among other things, plaintiff requested that defendant be ordered to re-produce, in native format, documents previously produced as TIFF images.  The court granted only that portion of the motion, and gave the defendant three options for its re-production:  (1) provide any documents previously supplied as TIFF images in their native format, (2) provide the documents in another comparably searchable format, or (3) supply plaintiff with software for searching the TIFF images.

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Babaev v. Grossman, 2008 WL 4185703 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 8, 2008)

In this case, plaintiffs claimed that they were fraudulently induced to invest in defendant’s catering businesses, and sought to inspect defendants’ business records.  Plaintiffs moved for an extension of time to complete their inspection, and also requested sanctions.  They claimed that defendants had engaged in spoliation of evidence and willful refusal to produce documents, and also noted defendants’ “belated” claim that their computer had been lost or misplaced and that many reports and records were unavailable for that reason.  Defendants argued that the “lost” computer had been kept at defendant’s prior place of work, and that when it was retrieved the files had been corrupted and could not be accessed.  Defendants asserted that the computer had been discarded prior to the lawsuit.

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Metrokane, Inc. v. Built NY, Inc., 2008 WL 4185865 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 3, 2008)

In this patent infringement litigation, BNY sought sanctions on the grounds that Metrokane failed to produce a series of emails said to be highly damaging to Metrokane’s case.  BNY argued that the recent discovery of the existence of these emails through production by a non-party came too late to permit BNY to pursue otherwise crucial discovery concerning these communications.  Metrokane contended that BNY failed to comply with various procedural requirements before filing the motion, and that it had not demonstrated any misconduct by Metrokane or any prejudice.  Magistrate Judge Michael H. Dolinger rejected Metrokane’s procedural defense, and concluded that BNY sufficiently demonstrated discovery misconduct by Metrokane and resulting prejudice.  Accordingly, the court granted a variety of remedies, including an adverse inference instruction.

Discovery in the case closed in June 2007, but disputes about Metrokane’s performance let to additional motion practice, including the enforcement of a deposition subpoena to the alleged designer of the infringing handbags (Mr. Kilduff).  The court granted BNY’s motion to compel the deposition of Mr. Kilduff in October 2007, and his deposition and production of documents occurred in November 2007.

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