Key Insight: 1500 documents withheld as privileged under procedures in FRE 502 (d);
Nature of Case: Fifth Amendment, taking private property without just compensation
Electronic Data Involved: 1500 documents
Keywords: quick peek, privileged, taking, unjust compensation
Key Insight: Not organizing surveillance videos so that they could be promptly located was not found to be an “intent to deprive”
Nature of Case: Civil rights
Electronic Data Involved: Video
Keywords: video, intent, spoliation sanctions
Key Insight: Court had permitted Defendants to select an additional 16 custodians and 12 additional search terms. Plaintiff moved for reconsideration being concerned about amount that would be produced. Court denied reconsideration, urged cooperation and clarified that earlier limits on discovery applied to new materials as well.
Nature of Case: Fraud
Electronic Data Involved: E-mails, Documents
Keywords: search terms; cooperation; additional custodians; additional terms
United States v. New Mexico State Univ., No. 1:16-cv-00911-JAP-LF, 2017 WL 4386358 (D.N.M. Sept. 29, 2017)
In this pay discrimination case, the Court addressed Defendants’ motion for a protective order precluding further searching for responsive documents. Citing defense counsel’s failure to “adequately confer” before performing the initial searches, “which resulted in searches that were inadequate to reveal all responsive documents,” the Court concluded that “which searches will be conducted is left to the Court” and went on to order Defendants to conduct additional searches with specific terms, many of which were proposed by the plaintiff.
Key Insight: Party cannot use screenshots not disclosed in discovery to in support of summary judgment motion alleging electronic signature
Nature of Case: insurance coverage litigation
Electronic Data Involved: archived screenshots
Keywords: electronic signature, affirmative signature, meaningful offer, prepopulated
Key Insight: Failure to address standards for spoliation of ESI, no showing of entitlement to adverse inference instruction.
Nature of Case: defamation
Electronic Data Involved: AGGIS and Cybersource systems
Keywords: adverse inference instruction
Key Insight: Employer must produce company-wide documents without geographic limitations when all employees are subject to same leave of absence policies.
Nature of Case: workplace discrimination
Electronic Data Involved: General request for production and interrogatories
Keywords: employing unit, geographic scope, work unit, FMLA, scope of discovery, relevancy
Mann v. City of Chicago, Nos. 15 CV 9197, 13 CV 4531, 2017 WL 3970592 (N.D. Ill. Sept. 8, 2017)
Plaintiffs sued the City of Chicago and the Chicago police alleging that they had been wrongfully arrested, detained and prosecuted and that they were abused at “off the books” detention centers without access to counsel. Although the parties agreed on search terms and the majority of custodians, they “reached an impasse” as to which custodians in the Mayor’s Office should be searched, including the Mayor himself. Because the court found the information sought would be relevant and because Defendant did not establish the alleged burden of the request—failing to provide even an estimate—the court granted in part Plaintiffs’ motion to compel, including their request to add the Mayor. In so deciding, the court also noted several proportionality factors, including the importance of the issues at stake and the plaintiffs’ lack of access to the requested information.
Key Insight: Method of production requiring out-of state travel not contract breach and retention of counsel not enough to show material is privileged
Nature of Case: breach of contract, consumer protection act litigation
Electronic Data Involved: audit documents
Keywords: proportionality, foreign parent, method of production, privilege determination
Key Insight: The social media discovery request was considered overbroad, and was limited to posts relevant to the case
Nature of Case: Car accident
Electronic Data Involved: Social media posts
Keywords: Social media, proportionality
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