Key Insight: Spoliation, failure to issue Litigation Hold,
Nature of Case: 1983 Civil Rights
Electronic Data Involved: Hard copy, video, telephone recordings
Keywords: Adverse inference, Default Judgment, Sanctions, Attorney’s fees and costs, failure to investigate, Spoliation, Intent to deprive, Reasonable steps to preserve
Key Insight: Properly clawed back privileged documents may not be relied upon for evidence in a case. However, if the contents of these clawed back documents demonstrates bad faith discovery conduct, then sanctions can still be awarded.
Nature of Case: slip-and-fall injury
Electronic Data Involved: inadvertently produced privileged documents
Keywords: clawback, bad faith, intent to deprive
Key Insight: Automatically deleted police dash cam footage is considered spoliated when a serious injury occur s during arrest.
Nature of Case: excessive use of force during arrest
Electronic Data Involved: police dash cam video and audio footage
Keywords: dash camera, police, spoliation
Key Insight: The duty to preserve should be proportional and reasonable, not perfect and absolute.
Nature of Case: Rule 37(e) analysis of the defendant’s actions
Electronic Data Involved: Video Clips, CCTV and VDR
Keywords: Preserve, camera, viewable, “recorded continuously”, CCTV, RCCL
Key Insight: whether negative inference warranted where pictures taken on personal cell phone pursuant to protocol which became lost or destroyed
Nature of Case: excessive force – prison
Electronic Data Involved: cell phone pictures
Keywords: work image on personal cell phone
Key Insight: whether the defendant took reasonable steps to preserve the relevant evidence and whether the defendant?s actions in this case support a finding that the defendant acted with the intent to deprive another party of the information?s use in the litigation
Nature of Case: personal injury
Electronic Data Involved: deleted photographs
Keywords: sand, egregious
Key Insight: whether sanctions are appropriate where data on tracking device subject to automatic deletion which occurred before spoliation notice
Nature of Case: personal injury – vehicle accident
Electronic Data Involved: electronic control module (ECM)
Keywords: tracking device
Key Insight: whether failure to provide text messages talked was spoliation of evidence
Nature of Case: employment discrimination
Electronic Data Involved: forensic imaging of plaintiff’s cell phone, relevant text messages
Keywords: text messages, forensic imaging of cell phone, spoliation
Key Insight: Plaintiff lost access to Facebook, subsequently regained access and then deleted while case was pending summary judgment. Defendant was granted adverse inference jury instruction, not dismissal requested.
Nature of Case: Discrimination, Retaliation and Unjust Dismissal
Electronic Data Involved: Facebook Account Records
Keywords: Facebook, Spoilation, Deletion, Access
Key Insight: inadvertent failure to preserve email evidence leads to monetary sanctions and adverse inference but no termination
Nature of Case: employment
Electronic Data Involved: pictures
Keywords: deleting facebook
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