Legal issues, news and best practices relating to the discovery of electronically stored information.
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: 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: 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: 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
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,
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
Key Insight: Findings for attorneys fees may rely on factual findings not considered by the jury’s verdict.
Nature of Case: patent infringement litigation
Keywords:
Key Insight: When ESI is relevant, they must be provided in a format that is readable by opposing counsel
Nature of Case: Personal injury (product liability, car accident)
Electronic Data Involved: Computer modeling files
Keywords: GM, Chevrolet Silverado, rollover,
Key Insight: failure to meet and confer, failure to adequately respond to interrogatories
Keywords: unspecified sanction, automatic sanctions, proportionality
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