Key Insight: DA’s application to compel witnesses to answer questions granted: attorney/client privilege did not preclude attorneys representing individuals connected to events surrounding homicide from answering questions about laptop that was instrumentality of crime
Nature of Case: Grand jury proceedings investigating homicide
Electronic Data Involved: Laptop
Key Insight: Trial court’s order requiring witness to bring with her a computer or have access at the time of her deposition to a computer capable of logging onto the database and capable of searching, sorting and printing the data on the computer as requested by plaintiff’s counsel in the deposition was overbroad and vacated; however, witness would be required to testify about database since defendant had failed to establish that database was a trade secret
Nature of Case: Personal injury from falling merchandise
Electronic Data Involved: Database re accidents and injuries occurring at Lowe’s stores
Key Insight: Court modified prior order directing defendants to produce contents of hard drives for in camera inspection; individual defendants now directed to produce hard copies of all emails relating to allegations against certain individual, including any deleted emails recovered by a qualified expert appointed by the referee supervising the discovery; only those emails that in fact deal with relevant allegations to be turned over to the plaintiff; plaintiff agreed to bear all costs related to recovery of data from hard drive
Nature of Case: Sex discrimination, negligent supervision and breach of contract
Electronic Data Involved: Email and deleted email on hard drives of individual defendants
Key Insight: Mandamus relief granted; “run” from database to be narrowed to retrieve only falling-merchandise incidents within geographic and temporal limits set forth by trial court
Nature of Case: Negligence, premises liability
Electronic Data Involved: Run from computer database
Key Insight: Order memorialized parties’ agreement regarding motion to compel: defendants agreed to produce all emails that exist in printed form, but would not conduct search of electronic database to retrieve emails since it would be cost prohibitive; defendant understood it would be precluded from offering evidence at trial that was not properly disclosed in discovery
Nature of Case: Employment discrimination
Electronic Data Involved: Email
Key Insight: No abuse of discretion to deny motion to compel access to GM’s databases and grant protective order to GM where plaintiffs’ proposed computer database searches were overly broad in scope, duplicative of prior requests and unduly burdensome
Nature of Case: Personal injury
Electronic Data Involved: Database
Key Insight: Finding that work product protection did not apply to contested emails, court ordered their production
Nature of Case: Disabled individual alleged violations of ADA
Electronic Data Involved: Email between plaintiff and third party
Key Insight: Defendant’s skepticism that plaintiff had not produced copies of all responsive documents did not entitle defendant to conduct physical inspection of plaintiff’s hard drives
Nature of Case: Breach of contract and quantum meruit claim
Electronic Data Involved: Computer and disc drives
Key Insight: Motion to compel production of computer printouts denied as to those constituting work product, granted as to those that were not prepared in anticipation of litigation
Nature of Case: Inmates sued for intentional discrimination in assignment of housing, programs, and administration of discipline
Electronic Data Involved: Computer printouts showing analysis of work locations and ethnicity of inmates
Key Insight: Court created its own eight-factor test by adding one more factor to the Zubulake seven-factor test, and determined that cost-shifting was appropriate (responding party 25% and requesting party 75%)
Nature of Case: Sexual harassment
Electronic Data Involved: Email stored on backup tapes
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