Litigation Hold – Page 4

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[…]

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[…]

The Plumbing of a Motion to Compel

June 15, 2009 Josh Gilliland Culling, Deposition, Discovery, Document Review, e-Discovery, Electronically Stored Information, Email, ESI, Litigation Hold, Motion to Compel, Processing, Request for Production

In a product defect case about brass plumbing fittings, the Defendants fought a motion to compel electronically stored information relevant to class certification, because of undue burden and cost. They lost…in large part. In re Zurn Pex Plumbing Prods. Liab. Litig., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 47636, 1 (D. Minn. June[…]

Litigation Holds, Web 2.0 and e-Discovery at the Arkansas Bar Association Meeting

June 15, 2009 Josh Gilliland e-Discovery, Electronically Stored Information, ESI, Litigation Hold

I presented at the Arkansas Bar Association in Hot Springs on June 12, 2009. I have presented nearly 100 CLE seminars, but this was my first state bar association meeting. It was a privilege to travel to Arkansas to discuss Web 2.0 litigation and current trends in discovery. I look forward[…]

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.

What Litigation Hold? Failing to Image Hard Drives and Other Discovery Mistakes

May 27, 2009 Josh Gilliland Discovery, e-Discovery, Electronically Stored Information, ESI, Imaging Hard Drives, Litigation Hold, Request for Production, Spoliation

Plunk v. Vill. of Elwood, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42952 (N.D. Ill. May 20, 2009) is a civil rights case with a summer time trial date against a local government, village officials and the police department. The Plaintiffs took the Defendants to task for failing to image six hard drives[…]

Who Delivers a Litigation Hold Notice to the Post Office?

May 18, 2009 Josh Gilliland e-Discovery, Electronically Stored Information, Email, ESI, Litigation Hold, Spoliation

Procedural Overview A mail clerk sued the United States Post Office and settled her lawsuit 1999. The Plaintiff sued the Post Office again, claiming the Defendants engaged in a campaign of harassment. The Plaintiff brought a second lawsuit for violations of Title VII and breach of contract. Phillips v. Potter,[…]

Prescription for Spoliation: A Short Legal Review

April 22, 2009 Josh Gilliland Discovery, e-Discovery, Email, Spoliation

Two drug companies in litigation ended up in a legal brawl over spoliation of backup tapes. The Defendants claimed the Plaintiffs either intentionally or recklessly destroyed back up tapes with key email messages that tended to show the Plaintiffs’ drug “escitalopram” did not produce “unexpected results” and therefore was “obvious.”[…]