Key Insight: Requiring defendant to bear expense of identifying class members was abuse of discretion where cost of effort (over $16,000), which included manually sorting records, keypunching and creating software programs, would be same for plaintiff and no special circumstances existed
Nature of Case: Securities fraud class action
Electronic Data Involved: Computer tapes
Key Insight: Brief reference to court’s earlier order narrowing the scope of subpoena to hard copy documents only, rather than including production of electronic documents
Nature of Case: Product liability
Electronic Data Involved: Electronic production of documents
Key Insight: Defense counsel’s failure to produce computer records and to retain all drafts of settlement documents reflected lack of diligence rather than intentional effort to abuse discovery process; testimony of witness barred and $500 awarded as sanctions
Nature of Case: Sexual harassment
Electronic Data Involved: Computer records
Key Insight: Plaintiff’s motion to modify scheduling order to allow additional electronic discovery (production of all source code and image copies of all hard drives with access to a server from which a particular disk was copied) denied because plaintiff failed to exercise reasonable diligence — it had possession of the disputed disk for over nine months before it examined the disk and appreciated its significance
Nature of Case: Copyright infringement
Electronic Data Involved: Source code, image copies of hard drives
Key Insight: Finding it “astounding” that defendant’s employees failed to follow court’s preservation order and defendant’s own document retention policies, court rejected plaintiff’s request for adverse inference but imposed monetary sanction of $2,750,000 and barred testimony from at least 11 witnesses who failed to comply with defendant’s own internal document retention program
Nature of Case: Tobacco litigation
Electronic Data Involved: Email
Key Insight: As sanction for discovery abuse and tardy production of “smoking gun” email, court precluded defendant from opposing the admission in evidence of various emails and records, and ordered defendant to pay plaintiffs’ reasonable attorneys’ fees incurred in connection with motion and related discovery
Nature of Case: Airline crash litigation
Electronic Data Involved: Email
Key Insight: While granting without prejudice defendant’s motion to dismiss and denying without prejudice plaintiff’s motion to certify class, court found that plaintiff’s request for entry of a document preservation order was overbroad but not entirely unnecessary, and entered a more narrow document preservation order
Nature of Case: Class action alleging violations of Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
Electronic Data Involved: Computer information relating to defendant’s debt collection policies
Key Insight: Magistrate recommended that non-parties’ motion for attorneys’ fees and other costs incurred in appearing for depositions and responding to subpoenas be denied, since non-parties failed to object to subpoenas or condition compliance on reimbursement, and an award of $58,000, without notice to plaintiffs, would be tantamount to severe prejudice
Electronic Data Involved: Email and hard copy documents
Key Insight: Plaintiff’s ex parte motion to continue summary judgment and for additional discovery of defendant’s computer system denied where prior Rule 56(f) continuance had been granted and no showing was made of specific evidence expected to be elicited
Nature of Case: Insureds sued insurer for breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing and related torts
Electronic Data Involved: Insurer’s claims-handling computer system
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
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