Knotty Issues of eDiscovery
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[…]
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The adequacy of searches for electronically stored information is often a challenge technically and procedurally for attorneys. The case of Mullen v. United States Army Crim. Investigation Command directly outlined how to evaluate whether a search was adequate. Searching for Adequacy & Reasonableness A search for responsive discovery is reviewed on[…]
Read moreA Plaintiff sought a writ of mandamus after a trial court ordered the production of the Plaintiff’s personal computer and email accounts. The Court of Appeals of Texas granted the writ. In re Jordan, 364 S.W.3d 425 (Tex. App. Dallas 2012). The case involved claims of a sexually hostile work[…]
Read moreDetermining search terms can sink into a voyage on the Pequod hunting a white whale. If a party obsesses over search terms, they may find themselves quoting Captain Ahab as they sink in an over-inclusive ocean of electronically stored information. To The Last, I Grapple With Thee In EEOC v.[…]
Read moreIn Re National Association of Music Merchants, Musical Instruments and Equipment Antitrust Litigation involved a dispute over additional searches of electronically stored information using abbreviations and acronyms for previously agreed-upon search terms. Instead of turning the discovery dial up to 11, the Court pulled the plug on the additional search[…]
Read moreThe parties in I-Med Pharma Inc. v. Biomatrix, Inc., stipulated to the search of the Plaintiff’s computer system by the Defendants’ forensic expert. I-Med Pharma Inc. v. Biomatrix, Inc., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141614 (D.N.J. Dec. 9, 2011). The expert ran a combination of approximately 60 keywords, including French words, keywords[…]
Read moreEEOC 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[…]
Read moreHock Food, Inc. v. William Blair & Co., is a dispute over the calculation of the “success” fees paid to the Defendant in assisting the Plaintiff with the sale of their business interests. Hock Foods, Inc. v. William Blair & Co., L.L.C., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24874 (D. Kan. Mar.[…]
Read moreSometimes, it takes a Court order to cool the fiery passions of litigation. In a RICO action in the packaged ice industry, the Defendant sought to chill the cost of searching 4 Terabytes of data. McNulty v. Reddy Ice Holdings, Inc., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3173, 6-7 ( E.D. Mich.[…]
Read moreThe Defendants in Romero v. Allstate Ins. Co., opposed a motion to compel to confer with the Plaintiffs over search terms. Romero is an employment class action against Allstate involving alleged coercion to convert employees into independent contractors without their original benefits. Romero v. Allstate Ins. Co., 2010 U.S. Dist.[…]
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