Key Insight: Plaintiffs unable to access password protected video camera offered hard drive to Defendants; Court held inaccessible videos were spoliated.
Nature of Case: property damage claim
Electronic Data Involved: videos
Keywords: spoliation, prejudice, sanctions, adverse inference, attorney’s fees
Key Insight: Plaintiff did not specify whether any documents were being withheld in the course of making objections to discovery motions
Nature of Case: libel, assault, slander
Electronic Data Involved: documents and communications posted or stored on social media, e-mails
Keywords: “facially overbroad”, “anti-abortion”, “nearly two-decade time frame”, “provide any responsive information for the past seven (7) years”
Key Insight: statute of limitations, proportionality
Nature of Case: copyright infringement
Electronic Data Involved: financial information
Keywords: meeting of the minds, statute of limitations, undue burden, amount in controversy
Key Insight: Methodologies behind TAR are privileged (especially the seed set), the court may also perform in camera review to determine the competency of TAR if necessary, poor TAR practices may allow opposing counsel to set parameters
Nature of Case: Fair Housing Act
Electronic Data Involved: Electronic documents
Keywords: TAR, FHA, discrimination, predictive coding, in camera review
Key Insight: Spoliation. Court ordered discovery to determine if failure to preserve relevant evidence, and if so, whether 37(e) sanctions are warranted.
Nature of Case: civil action under 42 U.S.C. s. 1983
Electronic Data Involved: prisoner surveillance video
Keywords: Spoliation, failure to preserve relevant evidence.
Key Insight: whether missing evidence is crucial to movant’s case, whether non-movant had intent to deprive
Nature of Case: employment discrimination
Electronic Data Involved: hard copy, email
Keywords: duty to preserve, litigation hold, permissible inference, bad faith
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: 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
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
Copyright © 2022, K&L Gates LLP. All Rights Reserved.