Case Summaries – Page 417 – Electronic Discovery Law

Gambale v. Deutsche Bank Ag, 2002 WL 31655326 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 21, 2002)

Dec 01 2004

Key Insight: Defendants ordered to provide an affidavit explaining steps taken to search paper and electronic files for responsive documents and feasibility and cost of retrieving certain emails. Plaintiff would then have option of consenting to protocol set forth in Rowe Entertainment as modified by Murphy Oil, or arguing for different protocol by conferring with defendant and submitting a joint letter outlining parties’ respective positions on the issue

Nature of Case: Gender discrimination

Electronic Data Involved: Email and electronic files

Hildreth Mfg., LLC v. Semco, Inc., 785 N.E.2d 774 (Ohio Ct. App. 2003)

Dec 01 2004

Key Insight: Failure to preserve certain computer hard drives did not warrant sanctions where there was no reasonable possibility that the missing hard drives (which were obtained after protective order was issued) contained evidence of the theft of trade secret information

Nature of Case: Misappropriation of trade secrets and related torts

Electronic Data Involved: Computer hard drives

Kleiner v. Burns, 48 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 644, 2000 WL 1909470 (D. Kan. Dec. 15, 2000)

Dec 01 2004

Key Insight: Granting motion to compel disclosure of all relevant computerized data under former Rule 26(a)(1), court observed: “As used by the advisory committee, ‘computerized data and other electronically-recorded information’ includes, but is not limited to: voice mail messages and files, back-up voice mail files, e-mail messages and files, backup e-mail files, deleted e-mails, data files, program files, backup and archival tapes, temporary files, system history files, web site information stored in textual, graphical or audio format, web site log files, cache files, cookies, and other electronically-recorded information.”

Nature of Case: Copyright infringement (posting of copyrighted photographs on web site)

Electronic Data Involved: All voice mails, email, web sites, web pages, and other relevant electronic data

Mathias v. Jacobs, 197 F.R.D. 29 (S.D.N.Y. 2000), vacated, 167 F. Supp. 2d 606 (S.D.N.Y. 2001)

Dec 01 2004

Key Insight: Plaintiff’s failure to preserve computer printouts and telephone lists loaded onto Palm Pilot did not warrant an adverse inference instruction, but did warrant monetary sanctions of $28,271.75 to be paid by party (not his attorney) to compensate the victim for attorneys’ fees and expenses arising both from additional discovery required to locate equivalent information by alternative means and from the motion practice necessitated by the spoliation

Nature of Case: Action seeking monetary damages and specific performance of stock option agreement

Electronic Data Involved: Hard copy material loaded onto Palm Pilot

Oppenheimer Fund, Inc. v. Sanders, 437 U.S. 340 (1978)

Dec 01 2004

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

Pueblo of Laguna v. United States, 60 Fed.Cl. 133 (2004)

Dec 01 2004

Key Insight: Government’s past evidentiary failures in other similar litigation appeared to be so pervasive and systematic as to provide ample support for issuance of a document preservation order in this case

Nature of Case: Tribe sued government for mismanagement of trust accounts

Electronic Data Involved: Documents stored in various media related to parties’ claims

Smith v. Texaco Inc., 951 F. Supp. 109 (E.D. Tex. 1997)

Dec 01 2004

Key Insight: Defendant’s motion to dissolve TRO requiring preservation of documents and electronic data denied, however, “to mitigate the high costs associated with electronic document storage, the court will permit defendants to delete electronic records in the ordinary and usual course of business; provided, however, that hard copy records be made and kept of any and all [relevant] electronic records . . .”

Nature of Case: Race discrimination

Electronic Data Involved: Unspecified human resources records, payroll records

Tempco Elec. Heater Corp. v. Temperature Eng’g Co., 2004 WL 1254134 (N.D. Ill. June 3, 2004)

Dec 01 2004

Key Insight: Since plaintiff elected not to conduct its own inspection of defendant’s hard drives, it could not avoid summary judgment on misappropriation of trade secrets claim by merely speculating about the presence of trade secret material on defendant’s computers, when defendant?s (admittedly cursory) inspection turned up no trade secret material

Nature of Case: Trademark infringement, misappropriation of trade secrets, contract breach

Electronic Data Involved: Hard drives

United States v. Stewart, 287 F. Supp. 2d 461 (S.D.N.Y. 2003)

Dec 01 2004

Key Insight: Court ruled that, although Martha Stewart waived the attorney client privilege when she forwarded to her daughter a privileged email containing her account of the facts surrounding her sale of the stock, she did not waive work product protection

Nature of Case: Criminal proceedings re Stewart’s sale of ImClone stock

Electronic Data Involved: Email

In re Worldcom, Inc. Sec. Litig., 2004 WL 768573 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 12, 2004)

Dec 01 2004

Key Insight: Court granted underwriter defendants’ motion for extension to complete production of certain electronic discovery but advised that, should they fail to meet this schedule, plaintiffs could request to be relieved of their obligation to share expenses in the production of electronic discovery; further, defendants to conduct additional electronic discovery searches for nine more custodians

Nature of Case: Securities class action

Electronic Data Involved: Electronic discovery

Catagory:Case Summaries