Knotty Issues of eDiscovery
Does the Stored Communication Act protect all text messages and data stored on a personal cell phone accessed without the owner’s permission? Not if you are arguing the cell phone is a “facility” under the Stored Communications Act. Garcia v. City of Laredo, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 25370 (5th Cir.[…]
Read more2012 eDiscovery Case Law included everything from Tweets to Computer-Assisted Review. However, there was also a very basic theme that is hard to ignore: Cases should be about the merits. And for cases to be decided on the merits, attorneys need to educate themselves on electronic discovery so they know[…]
Read moreMany eDiscovery attorneys associate Chicago with 1) the Blues Brothers and 2) Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan. Judge Nolan granted in part and denied in part a motion to compel in an employment dispute. The Judge found the Defendant had a duty to preserve audio recordings of calls that had been[…]
Read moreNothing says Merry Christmas like winning eDiscovery costs. One party was able to get over half the gifts on their Christmas List from the Court as taxable costs. The Defendants submitted eDiscovery costs over $40,000, which was nearly two-thirds of the Defendant’s bill of costs. A service provider made up[…]
Read moreA court should be hesitant to resolve issues that demand technical expertise. Magistrate Judge James C Francis IV In a case with dueling motions to compel, the parties disputed the adequacy of search terms. Magistrate Judge James C Francis IV wrote a profoundly important warning to attorneys and judges on[…]
Read moreA Defendant convicted of murder and attempted murder challenged the admission of three text messages at his trial. The Supreme Court of Arkansas found no error in admitting the text messages. The Stored Communication Act The Defendant challenged the admission of the text message content based on the Stored Communication[…]
Read moreThe Northern District of California should be commended for its new eDiscovery Guidelines, Check List and Model Order. It is a very good first step to raising eDiscovery competency and awareness for attorneys in Silicon Valley. The complete guidelines can be downloaded from Northern District website, which states attorneys should “consult[…]
Read moreWe also understand that in this technological age, “confrontation” at some point may take on a meaning that none of us has yet imagined or realized. Despite advances in communication technology, a defendant’s right to a fair trial with all its attendant Constitutional guarantees is our legal and moral obligation[…]
Read moreThe 5th Paraben Forensic Innovation Conference was held at the Zermatt Resort in Midway, Utah on November 3rd to 6th, 2012. The event was a tour-de-force in education, showcasing multiple forensic and eDiscovery boot camps. I had the honor of coordinating the eDiscovery and Deposition boot camps. Our eDiscovery speakers[…]
Read moreCan a party issue a litigation hold to one of its contractual agents to preserve information by remote control? The answer is yes, yes they can. In Haskins v. First Am. Title Ins. Co., the first issue was whether the Defendant was in “possession, custody, or control” of documents held[…]
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