Knotty Issues of eDiscovery
I watched David Boies argue the original Napster case on CSPAN while taking Computer and Internet Law at McGeorge, University of the Pacific. David Boies is more remembered for later representing Vice President Al Gore in the Bush v Gore legal saga. Online music downloads have caused litigation with the[…]
Read more
This Opinion should serve as a wake-up call to the Bar in this District about the need for careful thought, quality control, testing, and cooperation with opposing counsel in designing search terms or “keywords” to be used to produce emails or other electronically stored information (“ESI”). Magistrate Judge Andrew Peck,[…]
Read more
Inspection or testing of certain types of electronically stored information or of a responding party’s electronic information system may raise issues of confidentiality or privacy. The addition of testing and sampling to Rule 34(a) with regard to documents and electronically stored information is not meant to create a routine right[…]
Read moreA Federal Court in Puerto Rico addressed a specific question: What sort of ESI is a social networking message? Is it an email? A blog? Or something else? Maldonado v. Municipality of Barceloneta, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19842 (D.P.R. Mar. 11, 2009) is a case where a party sought a protective order to[…]
Read moreA “conspiracy” is an “agreement by two or more persons to commit an unlawful act.” Black’s Law Dictionary, Pocket Edition, 1996. Like a tango dance, a conspiracy takes a partner. However, the number of people in a conspiracy can quickly make it look like a square dance, with everyone needing to[…]
Read moreMany lawyers today no longer go to court with a pager on their belt, but a BlackBerry or iPhone. Partners can email directions to associates from the courthouse and associates can ping a paralegal for help at a deposition. Sending email is a normal part of the practice of law. […]
Read moreFacebook, YouTube and a whole list of other social networking sites are used every second of every day. People are Twittering their lives away online from their BlackBerries. There is no shortage of growing case law with online conduct leading to civil or criminal litigation. Here are several recent examples:[…]
Read more“Like any ordinary litigant, the Government must abide by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. It is not entitled to special consideration concerning the scope of discovery, especially when it voluntarily initiates an action.” Judge Scheindlin once again delivered a powerful opinion with SEC v Collins & Aikman Corporation 2009[…]
Read moreIn Spieker v. Cherokee, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88103 (D. Kan. Oct. 30, 2008), the parties became entangled in a dispute over who created search terms for a set of specific discovery requests. The Plaintiff had served the Defendant with specifically defined Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Rule 34 requests[…]
Read moreMy first video game system was Colecovision. About the same time my brother and I were playing “Donkey Kong” and “Frogger,” the Romantics were singing “What I Like About You.” One of the most popular game lines today is the “Guitar Hero” series. People enjoy rocking out to classics like[…]
Read more