Key Insight: Can private social media and metadata be compelled into discovery?
Nature of Case: Bellwether products liability
Electronic Data Involved: Social media
Keywords: Metadata, social media, private data, public data, privacy
Ronnie Van Zant, Inc. v. Pyle, No. 17 Civ. 3360 (RWS), 2017 WL 3721777 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 28, 2017)
In this case, the court imposed an adverse inference against certain defendants for their failure to preserve text messages in the possession of a non-party, where the court found that the defendants had control of the non-party’s text messages, citing the non-party’s close working relationship with the defendants, his prior participation in the litigation (e.g., by providing documents, etc.), and his financial interest in the at-issue film (and thus the outcome of the litigation).
Key Insight: Court cites rule 37, but not 37(e). No bad faith found for video that automatically overwrote footage, but allowed to question defendant about presence of camera and whereabouts of footage
Nature of Case: Personal injury (automobile accident)
Electronic Data Involved: Electronic data generally (photographs, videos, sketches, maps, diagrams), video
Keywords: ECM data, triggering event
Key Insight: Defendant’s failure to preserve the relevant ESI.
Nature of Case: Motor vehicle accident
Electronic Data Involved: Electronic Data/Electronic Control Module (ECM) Vehicle Data Recorder/Black Box and associated data.
Keywords: Spoliation, ECM data
Key Insight: ability to afford production, parties access to the relevant documents, impact on third parties
Nature of Case: Antitrust
Electronic Data Involved: 467,614 documents from electronic and physical files, 130 GB additional documents
Keywords: scope of discovery, antitrust, Sherman, cost/benefit
Key Insight: establishing a clear and indisputable right to a requested discovery
Nature of Case: patent infringement
Electronic Data Involved: Patent information
Keywords: cell culture, absent broad discovery, manufacturing data
Key Insight: Failing to prove even an estimate of the burden costs of discovery will not protect against discovery
Nature of Case: Civil rights (police misconduct)
Electronic Data Involved: Emails
Keywords: Homan square, Chicago Police Department, off the grid,
Key Insight: Sanctions for willful destruction of cell phone after receiving demand to preserve
Nature of Case: workplace discrimination
Electronic Data Involved: text messages
Keywords: spoliation, preservation of evidence, text messages, iCloud
Ortega v. Mgmt. & Training Corp., NO. 16-cv-0665 MV/SMV, 2017 WL 3588818 (D.N.M. Jan. 1, 2017)
In this case, Plaintiff sought to compel native/electronic production of documents previously produced in hard copy. Defendant claimed that the documents in question were “ordinarily kept by Defendant both electronically and in hard copy” and produced only the hard copy format. The court found that Defendant’s production did not “run afoul of Rule 34.”
Key Insight: Whether sanctions appropriate following defendants’ destruction of recordings, litigation hold
Nature of Case: personal injury
Electronic Data Involved: Video recordings
Keywords: spoliation, intent to deprive, adverse inference, prejudice
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