Bow Tie Law

The Confirmation of Existence…Of Responsive ESI

EEOC v. Jp Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., is gender discrimination case with multiple discovery disputes.  EEOC v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34409, 6-7 (S.D. Ohio Mar. 30, 2011). One request for production called for “[w]hatever hardware, software, files, metadata, and properties in Defendant’s possession that[…]

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A PDF Production is Not How a Native File is Ordinarily Maintained

In a production dispute over native files, Magistrate Judge Paul Cherry shows us (again) that producing native files as non-searchable PDF’s does not comply with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Rule 34. Jannx Med. Sys. v. Methodist Hosps., Inc., 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 122574 (N.D. Ind. Nov. 17, 2010).  Federal Rule[…]

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Circular Form of Production Objections

In a form of production battle, the producing party claimed they were denied the opportunity to object to the form of production, because the requesting party did not state a form of production.  The Court did not need to use Pi to solve this circular argument. Procedural Circles After a motion[…]

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Undue Burden Arguments Must Be Specific, Not Speculative

Seger v. Ernest-Spencer Metals is the story of an industrial accident where the Plaintiff suffered serious bodily injury.  In the ensuing discovery battle, the Producing Party claimed the electronically stored information was from sources that were not reasonably accessible due to undue burden.  Seger v. Ernest-Spencer Metals, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS[…]

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Piercing the Work Product Doctrine: Gamesmanship with Locked PDF’s

The Plaintiffs in Mack v. HH Gregg, Inc. sued the Defendants for breach of contract over the alleged failed installation of dryers. The parties agreed the Defendants would produce a “summary of its dryer installation invoices that would include the state of the sale, date of purchase, amount paid for delivery[…]

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The Form of Production Battle of the Bulge: Scanned PDF’s Not a Reasonably Useable Form

“In the court’s experience, scanned PDFs, as opposed to electronically-produced PDFs, are not reasonably usable.” Magistrate Judge Paul M. Warner In Accessdata Corp. v. Alste Techs. Gmbh, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4566 (D. Utah Jan. 21, 2010), a United States based company that produces forensic software used in e-Discovery, entered into a contract with[…]

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Discovery Games in Gaming Litigation

Discovery games were taking place in a gaming case in Mississippi.  The Plaintiffs brought a motion to strike and a motion for sanctions for discovery misconduct in responding to requests for electronically stored information.  Maggette v. BL Dev. Corp., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 116789 (N.D. Miss. Nov. 24, 2009).  The[…]

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