Getting Mixed Up in Motions to Compel Text Messages Without Showing There is Missing ESI
Parties challenging a discovery production need more than a “feeling” ESI was not produced.
Read more
Category: Motion to Compel
Missing One Email in a Production is Not Grounds for a Default Judgment
There is a universal truth in discovery: perfection is not the standard for discovery responses. This does not mean producing parties can throw caution to the wind for their Rule 26(g) obligations that a discovery response is complete and correct after a reasonable inquiry. However, one missing email is not[…]
Read more
Forensic Analysis of a Personal Laptop is Intrusive Discovery
A plaintiff brought a lawsuit against a hotel for “hidden” Environmental Fees of $2.99 per night that turned into a reservation with motions to compel ESI in native file format. Kratzer v Scott Hotel Group, LLC, 2019 U.S. Dist, LEXIS 230063 (S.D. Ind., Apr. 23, 2019). The original discovery dispute[…]
Read more
Knowing a Party Used a Personal Email Account Should Not Take X-Ray Vision
Discovery surprises are rarely fun for producing parties. In a case where the parties had an ESI Protocol outlining emails to be searched, the Defendants sought a Court order for the Plaintiffs to search the CEO’s personal Gmail account. The Defendants offered an email exchange they discovered from the CEO[…]
Read more
A Subscription for Search Terms
The Plaintiffs in the class action case involving claims false advertising and unfair competition over automatic renewal of magazine subscriptions found a new spin of this often litigated dispute over search terms: a motion to compel the Defendants to produce all responsive ESI, regardless of whether it was a hit[…]
Read more
Be Specific with Motions to Compel and Relief Sought
Litigation can be a stressful experience. Attorneys are justifiably upset when they make what they think are effective discovery requests and the response seems lacking. The following case has important lessons on being very specific with a motion to compel and the remedy sought. In a collective action over whether[…]
Read more
Courts Will Not Compel Production of Unavailable Information
The Defendants in a medical malpractice case sought discovery from the Plaintiffs related to billing and care records from the Plaintiffs. The problem: the unavailable records were at hospitals in the United Arab Emirates. Al-Ameri v. Johns Hopkins Hosp. (D.Md. May 26, 2016, No. GLR-15-1163) 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68980,[…]
Read more
No Request, No Motion to Compel
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[…]
Read moreThe False Declaration of Dismissal
How many times can a litigant ignore his discovery obligations before his misconduct catches up with him? The plaintiffs in this case failed to produce documents in response to a discovery request. Then they proceeded to violate not one but two judicial orders compelling production of the requested materials. After[…]
Read moreThe $1.9 Million Price Tag on Undue Burden
The Plaintiffs in Thermal Design, Inc. v. Guardian Bldg. Prods., brought a motion to compel the Defendants “Defendants to search all archived e-mail accounts and shared network drives, without any restriction as to custodian or individual.” Thermal Design, Inc. v. Guardian Bldg. Prods., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 50108 (E.D. Wis.[…]
Read more