Legal issues, news and best practices relating to the discovery of electronically stored information.
Key Insight: whether social media photos or videos where the party is tagged can be discoverable with limitations
Nature of Case: Personal injury
Electronic Data Involved: social media photographs, social media private access
Keywords: tagged, social media access, alleged restriction or disability, photo, basketball, car accident
Key Insight: The expert’s theory was not sufficiently reliable, so it was excluded
Nature of Case: Products liability, medical
Electronic Data Involved: Expert testimony
Keywords: Causation, expert testimony
Key Insight: Social media is discoverable if limited, relevant, and proportional
Nature of Case: Employment discrimination
Electronic Data Involved: electronically stored information, social media
Keywords: Social media
Key Insight: P subpoenaed for documents from a third-party after failing to receive the same information from defendant
Nature of Case: employment dispute
Electronic Data Involved: contracts/agreements, subcontractor agreements, financial information, e-mail
Keywords: subcontractor, independent contractor, technician, subpoena, third-party, undue burden on a person subject to subpoena
Key Insight: Sanctions and shifted burden of proof imposed for failure to produce with intent to deprive.
Nature of Case: Discovery abuse sanctions
Keywords: spoliation, intent to deprive, sanctions, burden of proof shift, bad faith
Key Insight: whether the defendant acted with the intent to deprive plaintiff of the information’s use in the litigation
Nature of Case: personal injury
Electronic Data Involved: videotape
Keywords: videotape, garage door
Key Insight: denied as overbroad but ordered to produce responsive text messages
Nature of Case: workplace discrimination
Electronic Data Involved: cell phone data and text messages
Keywords: cant request all call info with coworkers, only relevant documents
Key Insight: whether giving compelling reason is necessary for the court to supplement an order to obey the law
Nature of Case: breach of contract
Electronic Data Involved: employment records and emails
Keywords: receivership estate, mass layoffs
Key Insight: Stored Communications Act precludes Facebook from complying with a subpoena that requested contents of communications on the social media platform
Nature of Case: Criminal appeal, Murder
Electronic Data Involved: Social media accounts
Keywords: social media, facebook, SCA, subpoena, Criminal, serious constitutional doubt
Key Insight: Defendant’s email archive system had had issues and was replaced before litigation filed, but servers were kept. Stubbed E-mail attachments were inaccessible. defendant showed attachments were potentially relevant and motion to compel was granted. Costs were to be split since it would be undue burden on plaintiff alone and they had not acted in bad faith.
Nature of Case: Patent Infringement
Electronic Data Involved: Stubbed E-mail Attachments
Keywords: Restoration, undue burden, bad faith, cost shifting
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