Josh Gilliland

An Interesting Order…No Twitter in Court

August 11, 2009 Josh Gilliland Blogging, Twitter

Cameras in Courtrooms have been the cannon fodder for courtroom sketches for years. A recent court order for a trial in Florida highlights how judges are keenly aware of technology and reporters. A temporary press room was set up for reporters covering a criminal trial. The reporters would be allowed to[…]

Attorney Client Text Messages or Texting & Depositions Don’t Mix

August 10, 2009 Josh Gilliland Attorney Client Privilege, Discovery, ethics, Text Messages

A child was injured at an Old Navy store (a subsidiary of the Gap) on a clothing rack, and naturally, a lawsuit followed in Federal Court based on Diversity Jurisdiction. Wei Ngai v. Old Navy, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 67117 (D.N.J. July 31, 2009). The Plaintiffs deposed the Gap’s General[…]

The Missing Link: A Duty to Preservation Imbedded Images & Hyperlinks?

August 7, 2009 Josh Gilliland Duty to Preserve, Electronically Stored Information, ESI, Spoliation

Paleontologists have searched for the missing link, the remains of an transitional life form, showing a state of evolution. Lawyers today continue the quest for missing links, but not for transitional life forms, but inactive hyperlinks to websites. The Plaintiff in Ferron v. Echostar Satellite, LLC, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 66637 (S.D.[…]

Private Eyes, and the California Supreme Court, are Watching You!

August 5, 2009 Josh Gilliland Reasonable Expectation of Privacy

The California Supreme Court, probably counting down until they have to decide cases regarding the new Electronic Discovery Act, weighed in with a case that will make people shake their heads and feel uncomfortable. The Defendants ran a non-profit residential facility for neglected and abused children. The Plaintiffs worked for[…]

Invasion of Privacy and Spoliation on MySpace

August 3, 2009 Josh Gilliland Defamation, Reasonable Expectation of Privacy, Social Networking, Spoliation

It is true that mass communication is no longer limited to a tiny handful of commercial purveyors and that we live with much greater access to information than the era in which the tort of invasion of privacy developed. A town crier could reach dozens, a handbill hundreds, a newspaper[…]

Turning Rule 26(a) Initial Disclosures into Rule 26(e) Supplemental Disclosures

July 31, 2009 Josh Gilliland Discovery, Initial Disclosures, Request for Production, Supplemental Disclosures

What happens if more responsive documents are found after the case management order setting a required disclosure deadline? Answer: You must supplement your disclosure. In Kutrip v. City of St. Louis, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60199 (E.D. Mo. June 30, 2009), the deadline for discovery was November 30, 2006 and[…]

The Karaoke Bar of Personal Jurisdiction

July 27, 2009 Josh Gilliland Personal Jurisdiction

The Defendant, a karaoke song provider from California, was sued in Tennessee for copyright infringement for song downloads. The Plaintiffs were a music publisher and claimed ownership of thousands of subject songs that were allegedly infringed on by the Defendants. The Defendants claimed they had no contacts with the state[…]

When You Have Over 100 “Any and All” Requests for Production, Don’t Complain About Lots of Documents to Review

July 23, 2009 Josh Gilliland Motion to Compel, Request for Production

When, as here, broad discovery requests lead to relevant documents being mixed in with seemingly irrelevant documents, the fault lies just as much with the party who made the request as with the party who produced documents in response to the request. District Court Judge Ted Stewart, Cmty. House, Inc. v.[…]

Telling the Judge ESI is “Expensive” is not an Excuse for Failing to Produce

July 20, 2009 Josh Gilliland Discovery, e-Discovery, Electronically Stored Information, ESI, Request for Production

It is generally a bad sign when an opinion begins with a Court banning parties from filing more discovery motions without the Court’s approval. This is one of those cases. Textron Fin. Corp. v. Eddy’s Trailer Sales, Inc., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60065 (E.D.N.Y. July 10, 2009). One of the[…]