Key Insight: Boilerplate objections to discovery requests can lead to sanctions without being specifically tailored to the request
Nature of Case: Intellectual Property (patent and trademark infringement), breach of contract
Electronic Data Involved: Electronic data
Keywords: boilerplate, obstructionism, objections
Key Insight: Court narrowed scope of some plaintiff requests and ordered defendant to clarify privilege claims on withheld documents
Nature of Case: bad faith; insurance coverage
Electronic Data Involved: claims file of insurer
Keywords: privilege; responsiveness
Key Insight: Sanctions under 37(e) may be delayed until proof that the evidence is irretrievably lost is obtained
Nature of Case: Wrongful death
Electronic Data Involved: Video evidence
Keywords: Spoliation, video, adverse inference, recovery
Key Insight: Boilerplate objections were not enough to determine that requests were overly burdensome. Defendant needed to specify so court could determine.
Nature of Case: Privacy Rights, Stored Communications Act, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
Electronic Data Involved: Amazon Account
Keywords: burdensome, boilerplate objections
Key Insight: whether there was accessibility problems or undue burden or cost associated with turning over phones and computers for forensic imaging; also, whether it was sufficient to have plaintiff’s employee’s conduct a search for responsive ESI
Nature of Case: breach of contract, tortious interference
Electronic Data Involved: e-mails, phone messages, physical computers and cellphones and their data
Keywords: “former business relationship”, “information may be discoverable even if not ultimately admissible into evidence”, “Allstate, however, agreed to produce responsive information within its custody”
Key Insight: Mass email to all employees of a company asking for information is not proportional, especially when custodians and search terms have already been established
Nature of Case: Securities (retirement fund investment loss)
Electronic Data Involved: Electronic documents, emails
Keywords: discovery, mass email, proportional, retirement,
Key Insight: former employee of defendant ordered coworkers to delete case critical emails, even after litigation hold.
Nature of Case: antitrust, Sherman Act
Electronic Data Involved: email
Keywords: 5 million dollar fee award, clear intent, spoliation, litigation hold, permissive adverse inference.
Key Insight: Courts should be less involved in discovery dispute regarding ESI despite recent FRCP amendments
Nature of Case: Labor Standards Class Action
Electronic Data Involved: third party electronic payroll data
Keywords: FRCP 2015 amendments, electronically readable fomat
Key Insight: adequacy of attorney oversight of document production and failure to issue litigation hold
Nature of Case: legal malpractice, breach of contract
Electronic Data Involved: hard copy
Keywords: oral litigation hold, retention policy, spoliation, default judgment, compliance oversight
Key Insight: motion to compel production of documents including confidential patient information
Nature of Case: patent infringement
Electronic Data Involved: database maintained by non-party
Keywords: undue burden and expense on a non-party, subpoena duces tecum
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