Bow Tie Law

Production Madness: The Covad Story Continues with New ESI Pitfalls

Understandably, taking an electronic document such as a spreadsheet, printing it, cutting it up, and telling one’s opponent to paste it back together again, when the electronic document can be produced with a keystroke is madness in the world in which we live. Magistrate Judge John M. Facciola, Covad Communs.[…]

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Don’t Bank on this Strategy to Compel Electronically Stored Information

The Court finds the parties could have avoided the expenses of this Motion by conferring appropriately early in the case about ESI. United States Magistrate Judge Michael R. Merz, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. LaSalle Bank Nat’l Ass’n, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70514 (S.D. Ohio July 24, 2009). Banks really[…]

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Spoliation! A New Drama at the District Courthouse about a Litigation Hold and Missing Electronically Stored Information

The stage is set: There is a triggering event for a lawsuit, a litigation hold is enacted and evidence is preserved.  A drama played out not according to the above script with a law firm and client almost ending up on the hook for a botched litigation hold.  In Pinstripe, Inc. v. Manpower, Inc., the[…]

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Get Out the Check Book for Translating ESI into a Reasonably Usable Form in California

California Code of Civil Procedure 2031.280(e) states, in relevant part: If necessary, the responding party at the reasonable expense of the demanding party shall, through detection devices, translate any data compilations included in the demand into reasonably usable form. California Code of Civil Procedure 2031.280(e) might give anyone used to[…]

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Rock Opera Discovery of Archived ESI

In re In re Operadora DB Mex., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68078 (M.D. Fla. May 28, 2009), is the story of an international legal dispute, arbitration and the Hard Rock Café.  While all of that makes for an exciting feature act, we will rock out to the electronic discovery issues.  The[…]

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

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.[…]

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

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[…]

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