Knotty Issues of eDiscovery
I was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Browning Marean. Both Craig Ball and Chris Dale have written very eloquently about Browning. I encourage you to read both of their tributes. Browning Marean was the senior statesman of eDiscovery. There are few people who had the grace and[…]
Read moreThe In re Bridgepoint Education case is not one about the merits of predictive coding, but one of proportionality over expanding the scope of discovery by nine months. In re Bridgepoint Educ., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108505, 10-11 (S.D. Cal. Aug. 6, 2014). While the cost of document review and[…]
Read moreCan a Plaintiff win adverse inference instructions for the destruction of a phone recording destroyed after a one-year retention policy and whose relevance (or existence) was not known by the Defendants for two years after the event happened? Short answer is no. The test for establishing adverse inference instructions for[…]
Read moreSocial media being offered into evidence in any case will almost always have hearsay objections if the proffered evidence is a status update, comment, Tweet, or even video. The reason? Virtually everything on social media is a statement. Unless the social media is only a photo with no text, there[…]
Read moreThe Texas Supreme Court has clarified the standards for spoliation (in Texas). The rule is that Texas has a two-step process: (1) the Trial Court must determine, as a question of law, whether a party spoliated evidence, and (2) if spoliation occurred, the Court must assess an appropriate remedy. Brookshire Bros.,[…]
Read moreThere are many great blogs for attorneys. The ABA Journal is now accepting “Friends of the Blawg” briefs in the annual ABA Journal Blawg 100. Nominations can be submitted on the ABA Journal website. There are many great litigation blogs. Here are some of my favorites: Craig Ball’s Ball in[…]
Read moreWhat do parties do when they anticipate documents, testimony, or information containing or reflecting confidential, proprietary, trade secret, and/or commercially sensitive information are likely to be disclosed or produced during the course of discovery, initial disclosures, and supplemental disclosures in a case? Agreeing to a protective order is a the solution[…]
Read moreThe Defendants in employment litigation sought the mirror imaging of the Plaintiff’s personal computers three years after she had been terminated. The crux of the eDiscovery centered on the former employee forwarding emails from her supervisors email to her personal account, which the Defendants claimed were lost by the Plaintiff. The Court[…]
Read moreExxonMobil Pipeline had a problem in discovery: their discovery responses were overdue. The requests for production was served in November 2013 and due after one extension in January 2014. The Plaintiffs rightly brought a motion to compel. The Defendants had enough discovery to give most eDiscovery attorneys a migraine with[…]
Read moreI had the honor of speaking at the 2014 Arkansas State Bar Annual meeting on eDiscovery Ethics and new trends in eDiscovery in Hot Springs, Arkansas. I had an amazing time and greatly appreciated the hospitality of the Arkansas Bar Association. My new Ethics seminar is a Star Trek themed[…]
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