Spoliation – Page 2 – Bow Tie Law

Establishing Prejudice: Putting the Brakes on Spoliation Motions

November 15, 2010 Josh Gilliland Electronically Stored Information, Spoliation

In a very short opinion, Magistrate Judge Facciola showed a path to putting the brakes on spoliation motions: “Assessing whether sanctions are warranted for the loss of otherwise discoverable information is a function of whether a party has been prejudiced by that loss.” Davis v. Grant Park Nursing Home, LP, 2010 U.S. Dist.[…]

BlackBerry Boo-Boos: How to Get the Judge to Text You Adverse Inference Instructions

November 5, 2009 Josh Gilliland Duty to Preserve, e-Discovery, Electronically Stored Information, Email, ESI, Litigation Hold, Spoliation

Southeastern Mechanical Services, Inc., v Brody, et al., is the story of how wiping the data off your BlackBerry can result with the Court having you drawn and quartered. Not with horses, but with adverse inference instructions. In a trade secret case where Individual Defendants left the Plaintiff’s company and[…]

Lions, Tigers & Bears: Failing to Preserve ESI, Search Terms and Forensically Imaging Computers

September 16, 2009 Josh Gilliland Duty to Preserve, Electronically Stored Information, Litigation Hold, Search Terms, Spoliation

In Treppel v. Biovail Corp., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25867 (S.D.N.Y. 2008) the Plaintiff brought an action alleging a smear campaign against him. The Defendants in turn claimed the Plaintiff defamed their CEO and caused their stock to drop in value. No matter what the truth is, these parties are[…]

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

August 24, 2009 Josh Gilliland Electronically Stored Information, Email, ESI, Litigation Hold

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[…]

The Holding Pattern: Lessons Learned on Litigation Holds

August 12, 2009 Josh Gilliland Litigation Hold, Spoliation

The past three years have seen an increase of cases highlighting litigation holds and the duty to preserve electronically stored information. There is no shortage of cases that hold many “lessons learned” for attorneys and their clients. The Nightmare Litigation Hold Letter The Napster litigation gave us more then copyright[…]

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.[…]

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[…]

Spoliation is a “Grimm” Business

July 16, 2009 Josh Gilliland Litigation Hold, Search Terms, Spoliation

Magistrate Judge Grimm is no stranger to watershed opinions…and on occasion the 100 page a law review article disguised as an opinion on the admissibility of electronically stored information. Goodman v. Praxair Servs., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 58263 (D. Md. July 7, 2009) is Judge Grimm’s recent opinion on litigation holds,[…]

Reckless Abandon: Lost Hard Drives and Sanctions

June 10, 2009 Josh Gilliland Discovery, e-Discovery, Electronically Stored Information, Email, ESI, Imaging Hard Drives, Litigation Hold

In complex commercial litigation today, virtually all discovery involves electronic discovery to some extent. It also is well known that absent affirmative steps to preserve it, at least some electronically stored information (“ESI”) is likely to be lost during the course of litigation through routine business practices or otherwise. These[…]

Dirty Law: Cleaning Up a Spoliation Mess

June 2, 2009 Josh Gilliland Deposition, e-Discovery, Electronically Stored Information, ESI, Litigation Hold, Spoliation

Innis Arden Golf Club v. Pitney Bowes, Inc., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 43588 (D. Conn. May 21, 2009) is a polychlorinated biphenyls (“PCBs”) clean up case. Unfortunately, the clean up efforts included getting ride of evidence that resulted in sanctions for the Plaintiff, Innis Arden Golf Club.