Knotty Issues of eDiscovery
A plaintiff brought a lawsuit against a hotel for “hidden” Environmental Fees of $2.99 per night that turned into a reservation with motions to compel ESI in native file format. Kratzer v Scott Hotel Group, LLC, 2019 U.S. Dist, LEXIS 230063 (S.D. Ind., Apr. 23, 2019). The original discovery dispute[…]
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Discovery surprises are rarely fun for producing parties. In a case where the parties had an ESI Protocol outlining emails to be searched, the Defendants sought a Court order for the Plaintiffs to search the CEO’s personal Gmail account. The Defendants offered an email exchange they discovered from the CEO[…]
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The Plaintiffs in the class action case involving claims false advertising and unfair competition over automatic renewal of magazine subscriptions found a new spin of this often litigated dispute over search terms: a motion to compel the Defendants to produce all responsive ESI, regardless of whether it was a hit[…]
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Litigation can be a stressful experience. Attorneys are justifiably upset when they make what they think are effective discovery requests and the response seems lacking. The following case has important lessons on being very specific with a motion to compel and the remedy sought. In a collective action over whether[…]
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The Defendants in a medical malpractice case sought discovery from the Plaintiffs related to billing and care records from the Plaintiffs. The problem: the unavailable records were at hospitals in the United Arab Emirates. Al-Ameri v. Johns Hopkins Hosp. (D.Md. May 26, 2016, No. GLR-15-1163) 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68980,[…]
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The Plaintiff in ADT Sec. Servs. v. Pinancle Sec., LLC, objected to a Magistrate Judge’s denial to a motion to compel to redo the Defendant’s search for responsive ESI. The Plaintiff’s argued the Defendants failed to search individual employee computers and back-up tapes. Additionally, the Plaintiff’s highlighted a considerable disparity[…]
Read moreHow many times can a litigant ignore his discovery obligations before his misconduct catches up with him? The plaintiffs in this case failed to produce documents in response to a discovery request. Then they proceeded to violate not one but two judicial orders compelling production of the requested materials. After[…]
Read moreThe Plaintiffs in Thermal Design, Inc. v. Guardian Bldg. Prods., brought a motion to compel the Defendants “Defendants to search all archived e-mail accounts and shared network drives, without any restriction as to custodian or individual.” Thermal Design, Inc. v. Guardian Bldg. Prods., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 50108 (E.D. Wis.[…]
Read moreIn a Fair Labor Standards Case against Butterball, the Plaintiffs claimed the Defendants’ ESI production was incomplete. The Defendants in turn claimed that the “burden” of producing the discovery was burdensome, justifying cost shifting. Helmert, et al., v. Butterball, LLC, 2010 U.S. Dist. Lexis 60777 (May 27, 2010). While that[…]
Read moreThe 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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